Last One Standing
by Ninjalara
Summary: It's 2234 A.D. A group of construction workers come across an unusual skeleton in the Old New York sewer tunnels. Their only clue is a journal left behind by the deceased mutant turtle. As they begin to read, they learn about a new species and are introduced to their life of highs and lows. But a dark question is constantly present. Who was the last one standing? Chapter 7 now up.
1. The Find

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of the characters from the _TMNT_ franchise as they are either are the property of _4Kids _or _Saban Entertainment._

Author's Note: For this fic I will be combining two canonical sources – The Next Mutation, along with the 2003 cartoon. I realise that these two series are incompatible in parts, and if you think too deeply about the turtles' back-story, I'm sure there'll be canonical plot holes. Just want to let you know that I am aware of this, and while I will not focus on these inconsistencies, I do hope that you as the reader are willing to just go on the ride with me.

I've never structured a fic like this before, where I cut between past and present, first-person and third. I could've written the entire journal portion of the fic in first person, but instead I decided to have it a bit like the movies, where you experience the past as though it's happening as opposed to simply being told the details. The style will hopefully make more sense in the second chapter when I delve more into the story. But that's it for now, so enjoy the ride.

Chapter 1: The Find

_24__th__ May, 2234 A.D._

"Everyone clear?" Mitchell called out. His booming voice reverberated against the moss-covered sewer walls. At first his only responses were the smacks and sploshes of boots hitting water as his men scooted through the puddles that were scattered in amongst the surrounding tunnels. "I said, is everyone clear?" he repeated.

"Yes boss!" One responded. The voice of a second then answered, as though it was a roll call. Then another and another. Hearing confirmation from everyone on his construction team, Mitchell popped in his earplugs, gripped the handle of the detonator and plunged it down.

A ripple of energy ploughed through the sewer tunnel. A split second later came the sound of the explosion. Mitchell flinched at the sound despite the earplugs and out of habit quickly grabbed onto his hard hat as though his hands were going to give his head any more protection.

"That was a strong one!" a colleague remarked.

"Who used too much explosive?" Mitchell asked, coughing a bit between words. The blast had unsettled a lot of residual dust. The view down the length of the tunnel was now obscured. While the explosion was overpowered, Mitchell mused at the thought that at least the troublesome dead end no longer existed.

The construction worker coughed again and blinked his eyes. Mitchell swore that working down in the sewers for six months straight was starting to affect his vision. With Manhattan overcrowded, the mayor was curious to know what secrets lay beneath the city; wondering if maybe a solution to the population and housing problems could be resolved by going underground. Exploring the tunnels in a systematic fashion was a risky and tedious job. Every inch had to be mapped – or at least the maps from a century ago had to be updated. Yet it was a job that Mitchell wanted to be involved with; when he heard that the echo-location sensors had detected a large cavernous room up ahead, he specifically requested to be involved in this area for the day.

"There's light up ahead!" A worker announced.

"Yeah, my eyes are still adjusting to it," Mitchell murmured.

"That's not sunlight…" another worker remarked.

"Let's check it out," Mitchell said.

The team carefully walked to the end of the tunnel. The blast had demolished the dead end all right. Now the surrounding stonework was cracked and was structurally unstable. One of the men inched forward regardless and peered through the hole in the wall that they had created.

"Hey… it's an abandoned subway station!"

"Careful, Nick. This area could be centuries old for all we know," Mitchell warned.

"There's stuff in here…" Nick muttered as he passed through the hole. Seeing it was relatively safe to proceed, the rest of the team followed.

Abandoned was one way of describing it. Mitchell was surprised that the florescent lights were still working. The second thing that drew his attention was the five subway cars parked at the end of the platform. It was so incredibly dated. Old fashioned. Antique. Straight from the late 1900s, the only other time Mitchell had seen that style was in one of New York's transportation museums.

Yet it was the tiles that confused him. They were just a little too white. This wasn't the first time Mitchell had stumbled across an old, forgotten locale, one that used to be important to the civilisation that had left it behind. For a place that was as ancient as this, he expected to see more mould. Maybe moss. Heck, even for it to be covered in rat faeces. But this place still looked relatively clean for it's age, as though it had only been abandoned merely a few decades ago. "Well preserved…" Mitchell softly commented.

He looked around the rest of the platform. His men were fascinated with the piles of junk that littered the room. Magazines. Console games from way too many generations back. Cassette tapes. CDs. DVDs. Blu-Rays. Like a mound of history. When the couch came into view, Mitchell realised that someone had once called this home. It was no wonder the tiles looked so great for their age. But how long ago was it?

"Um… boss?" Nick stuttered. Mitchell couldn't see his colleague at first. Curious, he walked past what seemed to be a kitchenette and, oddly, some antique weaponry, before then making his way into the last subway car. He froze when his eyes locked onto the skeleton sitting at a desk. "What is it?" Nick stammered.

Mitchell's heart beat faster the longer he looked at the creature. It wasn't human. Humanoid, but not Homo sapien. The flesh had already rotted away and the remaining muscle must've been eaten by the sewer rats, but there were just enough tendons remaining to keep the shape of the skeleton together. The most alarming thing was the shell. Like a giant turtle. But it was sitting on the office chair, the plastron leaning against the edge of the table, as though it died slumped over the desk. The arms and legs looked human, except for the very few fingers and toes, all of which looked extremely large. The skull was something completely unfamiliar to Mitchell.

"Do you think it's an Alien? Can't be an Earthling, surely," Nick surmised. Mitchell was too amazed by the sight in front of him to answer. By now the rest of Mitchell's team had staggered into the subway car. "It's like a human tortoise," Nick gawked.

"A turtle," Mitchell corrected, though his thoughts were focussed elsewhere. His eyes strayed onto the pile of leather-bound books that were on the desk. One of them lay open – the one the turtle creature was reaching towards. Trying not to be grossed out, Mitchell walked forward and very carefully removed the book from underneath the fragile skeletal remains.

"What should we say when we call this in?" one of the men asked.

"Give me a sec," Mitchell muttered, suddenly fascinated by what he held in his hands. "Don't call this in just yet".

"It's a journal!" Nick saw what was in Mitchell's hands.

"Journal of what?"

Mitchell looked up the see the four eager faces of his workers. They were all in this together now. Each one wanted to unravel the mystery of the shelled, sewer-dwelling beast. Itching to solve it right away, Mitchell looked down at the page where the journal had been left open. The last paragraph of the last entry. Mitchell read it out loud:

"_I am the last of my kind. No one to talk to. No one to touch and to hold. And no one to bury me. All I have left now are the memories of my ancestors, but sadly they will depart along with me. What I've written here can only ever be a shadow of their amazing lives, but at least it'll be something that won't live forever in the darkness. By writing this, I am now ready to face the light."_

The workers listened intently. No one moved. Mitchell quickly glanced at their concentrated faces and flinched slightly at all the attention he was getting. He knew that they would gobble up any syllable that he uttered. Mitchell gulped. What he had just read didn't seem to answer any questions at all. It was clear that none of them were going to be leaving this place any time soon. "Maybe I should just start from the beginning."


	2. The Journal

Chapter 2: The Journal

Mitchell flicked to the front of the book. One of the men took a seat on the floor, possibly already figuring that this was going to take the rest of the afternoon. The opening paragraph seemed to be an introduction of sorts; the writing large and purposeful.

"_The following is what I've chronicled from the various diaries of my relatives. It naturally includes some of my own writings as well. I won't be able to cover everything, and although the original diaries still exist, I'm hoping that by the time I finish writing this, there will be at least one book that collectively tells the tale of my kind," _Mitchell read out loud.

"So it's like the highlights of life; a 'Best of' series?" Nick wondered, already imagining what sort of weird and wonderful tales the book might contain.

"I suppose so," Mitchell said absent-mindedly as he gave the diary a quick flick through. When he looked up he noticed that everyone else was now sitting on the ground. Mitchell quickly decided to do the same. "Let's get stuck into this, shall we?"

* * *

"_It's hard to know where to start. I suppose a sensible place would be to first tell the tale about how my species was created. The accident with the ooze. Yet since that story is detailed in all the other diaries, along with the early years of fighting, it seems redundant to repeat it. No, I believe I will begin this particular diary with the story of the journals themselves…"_

* * *

_17__th__ July, 1997_

It was only a small target. Maybe the size of a quarter. If Raphael were playing a game of darts, he would be able to hit it on his first try. But he was attempting to spear the black dot on the wall with one of his sai… from the opposite end of the room. He could definitely hit it within the vicinity, just an inch or two away even, but Master Splinter demanded a deadlier aim.

"Patience, Raphael," Splinter coached from the sideline of the dojo.

"It's too heavy," Raph complained about his weapon. "It's not an arrow, you know."

"Accuracy in battle is everything, Raphael."

"The last shot was good enough," Raph muttered.

"Stop stalling and chuck it already, Raph!" Mikey goaded from the side. Raph exhaled angrily and glared at the others who were just sitting in the dojo, watching him. He hated that private instruction was never really private. Splinter believed that there was always something that could be learnt through watching others. Unfortunately all the others ever learnt was that it was rather entertaining to watch him fail over and over. The only exception was Venus, who just seemed to stare at Raph while he trained, although her mind was focussed elsewhere. It kind of gave him the creeps.

"Michelangelo!" Splinter warned. Although the turtle did have a point – Raphael was taking forever. "Do not be distracted, Raphael. You must always have focus."

"Okay. Okay," Raph calmed himself down again. He breathed in, then out, then in again. In an instant he arched his arm back and flung the sai across the room. He missed. The sai stuck out of the wall, three inches away from the intended target. A few sniggers could be heard from the sidelines. Raphael growled. The other turtles stopped smiling when Raph's second sai flew just over their heads.

"Raphael!" Splinter reprimanded. He was getting tired of all the nonsense coming from his students this afternoon. "Everyone, in the center, now." Obediently the five turtles lined up in the middle of room, and after getting the cue from Splinter, they knelt to the ground. "Time for your daily meditation."

Splinter closed his eyes. He hoped that this exercise would quieten his students. About one minute in, he could hear some whispering. Then came a giggle. Then another. A "Shhh" was heard, then more whispering, giggles, then a slap. A thump was next, then a scuffle, a thud, another slap, a giggle, then an "Ow". Splinter gave an exasperated sigh before opening his eyes. The seventeen-year-old turtles were no longer in a line. Instead they seemed to be entangled, mid-wrestling match, squabbling over something. Venus was the only one not involved in the childish game, though her eyes were open as she tried to dodge from her seated position whatever random limb intruded her personal space. The rat frowned.

"Enough!" Splinter yelled. The boys stopped immediately. Within a second they returned to their original seats. "Why must you insist on behaving this way?" The rat looked at each of his students in the eye, hoping that one of them would be brave enough to speak. Naturally it was Leonardo to be heard first.

"We're sorry, Master Splinter. It won't happen again," Leo said with a bow.

"But it does happen. It happens every lesson. I don't want an apology, I want an explanation," Splinter said. This time he wanted to get to the very root of the problem.

Raphael started. "Master Splinter, Mikey here was laughing at the way I-"

"-No I wasn't. If you didn't-"

"-So this was my fault?"

"Will you two cut it out?" Donatello finally chimed in.

"I won't stop until he gives me his word that he won't-"

"-Can't handle criticism, can you, Raph?" Mikey grinned.

"Well Raph, if you didn't always fly off the handle every time Mikey-"

"How is this my fault, Leo?"

"He has a point, Leo."

"See, Donny agrees."

"Well I don't agree with every aspect of your argument."

"So everyone's against me now?"

"No, Mikey. Nobody is against anyone at the moment. We're just trying to find a solution-" Leo started to reassure.

"I'm against him," Raph quipped.

"Boys," Venus muttered. Splinter sighed, feeling her pain.

"Enough!" The room fell silent again at Splinter's command. "You have all allowed such petty things to control your thoughts. Even if today's dispute was resolved, I fear it'll only resurface tomorrow. It has become clear to me now that meditation as a technique isn't suitable for your training."

"Master Splinter! I assure you, we'll try harder. We won't disappoint you again!" Leonardo said. There was panic in his voice. As a turtle that strived for perfection in his martial arts, the last thing he wanted was to go backwards in his training. Splinter instantly recognised this fear.

"While the technique isn't suitable, I don't want to drop the idea of meditation completely," the rat reassured them all. "The more you have grown over the years, the more relaxed you have become with your lessons. Meditation hasn't been taken seriously for some time now. For it to be effective, you must understand its purpose; the importance of clearing your mind of every problem plaguing your thoughts so that you can truly live in the moment. But first, one must understand oneself - to mentally face these problems and healthily vent them, so that when the time comes, you're comfortable enough with these issues to let them simply slide away form the forefront of your mind."

"So you're saying that we're unable to clear our minds because we haven't sufficiently dealt with our problems yet?" Donatello wanted clarification.

"Your mind is plagued because you feel the need to probe these problems deeper. What I suggest is a little soul searching. Find out the root of your troubles and understand yourself better. Then, and only then, will you be able to win the battle over your mind," Splinter explained. Some of the turtles held blank expressions on their faces as they got lost somewhere in the discussion.

"So… what are we going to do instead of meditating?" Mikey dared to ask.

"Journaling," Splinter said with a grin.

It didn't take long for each of the turtles to have a blank book and a pen in their possession. It was obvious that Splinter had been preparing this approach for quite some time, as he just so happened to have the right number of journals stored in his room. Now instead of meditating for half an hour after their afternoon training session, the turtles would instead be instructed to write in their journals.

"What are we supposed to write about again?" Raph asked, not entirely enthusiastic about his new hobby. The boys all sat around the kitchen table, as though journal writing was a piece of homework that needed to be endured as a group.

"Just thoughts about your day. Stuff that happened. How you dealt with it, or how you're going to deal with it. Just write what's on your mind," Leonardo answered, not even looking up from what he was writing.

"Isn't this what teenage girls do?" Raph muttered his disapproval.

Silence was achieved for a few minutes while the four turtles struggled to put their thoughts to paper. "What are you guys writing about?" Mikey questioned as though he wasn't sure if he was doing the task correctly.

"I don't think there's a right or wrong way to do this, Mikey," Don said.

"I've decided to do a daily log of my life, so for my first few entries I'll just write about the past. Our mutation and our history with the Shredder, you know. Then once I catch up to the present, I'll write about more recent things," Leo said with his answer reflecting his logical approach to life.

"And you, Raph?" Mikey enquired.

"I ain't telling you."

"You writing about me?" Mikey wondered. He sharply leaned over the table to get a quick peek of Raph's writing. Raphael swiftly grabbed the journal and held it at an arm's length so that his brother would have no chance at swiping it.

"Quit it, Mikey!" Raphael snapped.

"Must be personal," Mike winked.

"Isn't it supposed to be personal?" Donatello asked rhetorically with a roll of his eyes.

"Aw, come on. As if you've never thought of reading someone's journal," Mikey defended himself.

"No. It's an invasion of privacy," Leo said, looking up from his work just in time to notice that Michelangelo was starting to read his writing. He slapped his journal shut.

"But doesn't it fascinate you? Like here's someone's thoughts. On paper. Like they're actually out in the open in the real world. And you have access to that. Imagine how much you can learn about them; how much better you'll understand them," Mikey explained his reasoning.

"Yeah, understanding that thoughts are meant to be private," Leo said, not backing down from his initial argument.

"No need to be so righteous, Leo. As if you're not the slightest bit curious in finding out what's written in Venus' journal," Mikey said with a cheeky grin on his face. He successfully hit a soft spot with everybody that time. The boys all stopped writing in order to stare at the female turtle's subway carriage. The door was slid shut, but they all knew that Venus was in there. She always wrote in private.

"I wonder what she's writing about…" Donatello pondered out loud.

"I bet she writes about us," Mikey answered.

"Well, yeah. I mean, when family is the only thing in your life, you're probably going to write about that," Don surmised.

"I didn't mean it like that… Don't you guys know what girls write about?" Mikey pressed onwards.

"No…" Leonardo answered honestly.

"It's not like we know that many girls, Mikey," Don said.

"And how come you know what they write about?" Raphael was getting wickedly curious.

"From TV and stuff! They always write about who they have a crush on, who is the hottest, who'd they'd date…"

"You have the hots for Venus and now you want to find out if she feels the same," Raph summarised with a smirk.

"Well… I didn't say it like that!" Mikey said. It was a poor attempt at trying to cover up his real intentions.

"Good luck with that," Leonardo chimed in. Before Michelangelo could say anything else, Leo continued. "You know she can only write in Cantonese, right?"

The others fell silent for a brief moment. "Venus can't write in English?" Don asked, rather ashamed that he didn't know.

"She can speak the language, obviously. She can read a little bit, but she has trouble with writing," Leonardo said. "I've been trying to teach her over the past few months."

"Guess she hasn't needed to know that stuff until she moved here," Raph realised. He knew the last few months had been hard for her, especially since her Master and adoptive father, Chung I had been murdered by the Dragon Lord. But for the first time Raphael began to think of exactly how much of a loss that was. She didn't just lose her teacher, but also her country and personal identity. Instead she was thrust into a new life and having to learn everything all over again. He felt sorry for the girl.

Donatello's train of thought, however, went on a completely different path. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"What?" Leo was confused.

"Using a code. Like da Vinci. Then no one can read my diary," Donatello thought out loud, not directing his words to anyone but himself, before quickly returning to scribbling in his journal.

"Now I'm just really curious to know what Venus is writing about us," Mikey muttered.

"You know, there's another way you can find out what someone's thinking," Leo baited.

"How?" Mikey wondered.

"You can just ask them," Leo said. Raph grinned, understanding that Leonardo had just set a dare. He enjoyed the moments when Leo finally let go of his leadership and good role model responsibilities and just had some fun.

At that moment, Venus' door slid open and the female turtle emerged. A towel hung around her neck as she headed towards the bathroom, probably hoping to have a post-training shower before dinner. The boys looked at her as she passed the kitchen table.

"Fine, maybe I will," Mikey accepted the challenge. "Hey Venus!" the turtle called out. The female stopped walking and turned to face the four boys at the table.

"Oh no," Don quietly groaned, fearing what words were going to pop out of Mikey's mouth next.

"Out of all of us, who is the hottest?" Mikey boldly asked.

"Hottest?" Venus held a confused face.

"You know, hot, as in most bodacious, or like, jaw-droppingly good-looking, or show-stoppingly-"

"-He means most attractive," Leonardo quickly corrected, realising that Michelangelo wasn't closing the cultural gap any further, though why he decided to help Mikey in this endeavour was beyond him.

"Oh…" Venus finally understood the question. She fell silent for a few moments, and then for a few seconds more. It quickly became awkward.

"It's okay," Mikey encouraged. "We don't mind what the answer is." That was obviously a lie.

"Smooth, Mikey. Real smooth," Raphael critiqued, now really wishing that they'd never entered this conversation in the first place.

Venus remained silent. She knew there was no way she could ever answer that question – she'd please one but only end up hurting the others. She looked towards the ground, avoiding eye contact, though she couldn't help but glance at Raphael a few times during the whole interaction.

It was clear to everyone that the subject should just be dropped, but unfortunately Michelangelo suffered from foot-in-mouth disease. "At least tell me that my face is easier to look at than his ugly mug," Michelangelo said. It was less of a question and more of just a cheap shot at Raphael. It worked – the red-wearing turtle growled. But Mikey's heart began to sink when Venus didn't reassure him. She just remained silent and started to blush. She kept glancing at Raphael and back down to the floor. It became obvious to everyone what her answer really was.

"I should go," Venus finally spoke up, gesturing towards the bathroom. She was never the type to relieve an awkward situation. With no one knowing what else to say, they watched as she slowly left the room.

"Wow. You walked straight into that one, Mikey," Raph chuckled.

"She just didn't want to hurt your feelings," Mikey said as an attempt to make himself feel better.

"That was so awkward," Donatello muttered.

"Yeah, let's not talk about this anymore," Leonardo commanded, putting on his leader persona again. "Let's just finish writing our journals for today and then get started on dinner, okay?"

With that, they all continued to write in silence, their faces serious. As hard as Raphael tried to look the same, he couldn't stop the faint smile from spreading across his lips.


	3. October Dragon Rage

Chapter 3: October Dragon Rage

"So there are four of them?" Nick asked before Mitchell had a chance to start reading the next entry.

"Five. Four boys and a girl," Mitchell answered. He flicked back to the previous page just to double check.

"Venus, Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael, and…" Michael, the tallest of the construction workers joined in the conversation.

"Donatello," Mitchell said.

"Donatello!" Michael exclaimed, having his memory jolted into remembering the final name.

"And then there's Splinter. Their karate master or whatever," Nick reminded the group.

"I think they wrote somewhere that they were ninjas," Mitchell muttered as his eyes quickly scanned over what he had just read. The rest of the construction workers meanwhile stared at the skeleton sitting at the desk. Michael stood up, gave his legs a quick stretch and dusted off his pants. He took a few steps closer to the desk to inspect it more thoroughly.

"So are they Aliens?" John, another one of the workers wondered. Nick was interested in hearing the answer as he asked the same thing earlier.

"I can't see an I.D. card on here," Michael said, eyes searching over the contents stored on top of the table. He was looking for a small, passport-sized booklet, but there were only more journals.

"Maybe it's in another one of the rooms?" Elijah quietly suggested. His gaze was locked onto the subway door, staring out into the rest of the abandoned station, as though he was expecting something to be lurking outside. He hadn't spoken much since they had made the discovery of the forgotten lair and the body it contained. Mitchell could easily see that Elijah wasn't relaxed at all; instead he was completely spooked by his surroundings.

A relatively young worker in his early twenties, it was Elijah's first week on the job. Mitchell had heard that sometimes people couldn't cope with being underground for too long. There'd been reports of people getting twitchy, panicking or otherwise getting paranoid in what is considered quite a dangerous workplace environment. The darkness of the sewer system just brought out the madness in some people. With today featuring the discovery an old home of an unknown species, Mitchell knew that this would be a real test on Elijah's wits. Did the young man really have what it takes for the job?

"We'll search the other rooms a bit later. Together," Mitchell reassured.

"What planet do you think they're from?" Michael asked. Standing beside the desk, he couldn't help but lean over and try to mimic the dying pose of the creature, before then trying to stare into the empty skull.

"I don't think they're Aliens, Michael," Mitchell said.

"Well if they're not Aliens, then what are they?" Michael wondered.

"Mutants. Mutant ninja turtles. They're not Alien ninja turtles, Michael," Mitchell clarified. He knew he was right. As though he was forming a new habit, Mitchell quickly flicked through the journal in his hands hoping to find a bit more information.

"Mutants? Do they really exist?" Nick wondered out loud. "How were they mutated?"

"They wrote at the start that those sorts of details are in the other journals," Mitchell said, getting slightly irritated now by all the obvious questions.

Upon hearing those words, Michael started to look through some of the other books on the desk. Nick was about to stand up and do the same thing, until something else caught his eye.

"There's heaps of them!" Nick said, pointing underneath the table. Everyone looked. Underneath the desk were piles and piles of more journals. Sitting there, the turtle wouldn't have been able to stretch their legs much without kicking them. Michael walked around to the other side of the table, noticing even more diaries piled on the floor, filling in the space between the end of the desk and the corner of the wall. He couldn't resist reaching down and picking up a random journal to read. Nick did the same; leaning over form his seated position he grabbed one from underneath the desk.

"_I decided to combine peanut butter and squid today for lunch. Can't say that it went well_," Michael read out a random passage.

"This one's just got zeros and ones," Nick said, rather confused by the document in his hands.

"I think that's binary," John deciphered, scooting closer to look over Nick's shoulder.

"Who writes in binary?" Nick was unimpressed, scrunching up his face with dislike. His expression quickly changed when he examined the diary more closely. "Oh, there's little letters… I think someone's written out the code," he discovered. "_Due to the increasing number of violent attacks on law enforcement, I feel it only makes sense to create a cybernetic police force,_" Nick read out slowly.

"It'll take a while to sort through these and find the beginning," Michael muttered.

"Must've been a huge job to sort through all these in the first place," Nick concurred.

"Whoever wrote this one did us a huge favour," Mitchell said, gesturing to the one still in his hands.

"What happens next?" Elijah piped up again.

"Well, the next few entries are dated fairly close together. Something big must've happened," Mitchell said after skipping ahead a few pages.

"Well read it then," Michael urged, sitting back down to his original spot. Studying the faces of his fellow workmates, Mitchell could tell that they were all keen in hearing at least the next few entries. Quickly clearing his throat, Mitchell continued on with the task.

"_I once heard that sometimes the worst moments in life can bring about some of the best. I now believe this to be true. While most people would remember what is now referred to as the October Dragon Rage as being one of the more frightening occurrences to wipe through the city of Old New York, it is comforting to know that in amongst the chaos, there was a love story…"_

* * *

_9__th__ October 2000_

Michelangelo let out a large breath of air as he landed and break-rolled onto the last rooftop. With Times Square only a few more city blocks away, there was no way he could travel any further. Not only were the streets becoming too populated, but also to scale the heights of the buildings further down into Manhattan would be insane. This was certainly the end of the line for the night.

Needing to get his breath, he walked to the edge of the roof and daringly sat down, allowing his legs to dangle casually over the side. The turtle loved the feeling of the cold air whipping underneath his feet. It was pouring with rain only a few hours earlier, so with the ground still wet and puddles near impossible to avoid, the wind tonight also served to dry his legs. Starting to regain his breath, Michelangelo looked down at the small alleyway below that was squeezed in-between his building and the next. He almost fell off the roof out of shock. Dragon Lord.

Jumping to back his feet, Michelangelo found a less conspicuous position that would enable him to peek over the edge. He could now confirm it. There, way below in the alleyway was their current arch nemesis, Dragon Lord. Compared to their previous major enemy, Shredder, the Dragon Lord was a rather easy person to spot. He and his soldiers, The Rank, weren't trained in ninjutsu unlike The Foot. Sticking to the shadows wasn't one of their strong points. But being reptilian beasts, their incredible natural strength and magical abilities made up for what they lacked in martial art techniques.

Michelangelo was quick to open his Shell Cell. "Leo? It's Mikey," the turtle said once he heard that the other end of the line had been picked up.

"What's up? I was about to head back for the night."

"Dragon Lord's here!" Mikey was quick to report. "And it looks like he brought a party," the turtle added. He watched as twenty members of The Rank came up from out of a nearby sewer hole to join their master in the alley.

"You safe?"

"Yeah, I'm just watching for now," Mikey relieved his brother's fears.

"Where are you?" Leo sounded urgent nevertheless.

"Um…" Michelangelo was never good with street names. "You know that building which is the last you can jump onto before reaching Times Square?" Leonardo remained silent. "…It's opposite a Pizza Hut," Mikey added.

Leo instantly knew the place that his brother meant. "I'll be right there. I'll contact the others," he confirmed before he hung up.

Michelangelo only had to wait a few minutes for the rest of the family to arrive. The only exception was Splinter; now well into old age, he rarely left the confines of the lair. "What's happened?" Leonardo asked, wanting a full report.

"Well, there's Dragon Lord and The Rank. I think there's a human with them. A Foot member," Mikey said. While the Shredder had been defeated years ago, some rogue Foot members remained. The turtles estimated that there were only five of them. They were the people who couldn't move on with life once their master had been dethroned. With serious ninjutsu training in their past, their skills were just too hard to pass up, and now they simply made a living off petty crime.

"A Foot member with The Rank?" Donatello was surprised.

"I think they're wanting to break into that Asian antique store," Mikey said, pointing down towards the alley. All the turtles watched for a moment as The Rank and the lonely Foot ninja tried to peek through the side windows and yank on the staff entry door.

"It's a job for a professional thief," Raph murmured.

"That's why they've got the Foot ninja. The Rank are too sloppy to pull off this heist. Must've kidnapped or forced him to cooperate somehow," Leonardo analysed.

"What are they trying to steal?" Venus wondered. As she spoke, the Foot ninja propped open one of the windows and snuck inside of the store.

"I'm not hanging around to find out," Leonardo said. That was his command to get involved. As a group they descended down the nearest fire escape, jumping down the outside of the metal structure. Within moments they were on the ground and face to face with Dragon Lord himself.

"Is it just me, or have you gotten shorter?" Raphael asked his enemy. While it may have come out as a taunt, it really was a genuine question. Like always, Dragon Lord was wearing his gaudy gold armour and red cape, though Raph could've sworn that it looked baggier on him than it had in previous battles.

The dragon didn't seemed phased at all by the appearance of his enemies. He just smiled while he stroked the tendrils underneath his chin. Meanwhile The Rank was quick to surround the turtles.

"Don't want to catch up? Have a chat? That's cool. Let's just kick some ass," Raphael said with a shrug moments before launching a punch into the nearest dragon's face. The other turtles swiftly joined in. The dragons weren't that much of a threat any more. Their movements had become predictable. A quick duck to avoid an obvious attack and then a speedy retaliation was all that was needed to subdue most members of The Rank. But the dragons still had numbers on their side and naturally it took just a bit longer to get around to disabling all of them. Too long, it seemed.

The turtles were still fighting The Rank when the Foot ninja returned. With a large pear-shape object under his arm, wrapped completely in fabric, it was clear that he had successfully taken what he was aiming to steal. His presence came to both Donatello and Leonardo's attention, but they were unable to engage in combat due to still dealing with the dragons. The ninja wasn't able to escape Dragon Lord's gaze though.

"Give it to me," Dragon Lord commanded. The ninja didn't budge. He looked at the chaos around him and assessed what opportunities he had available. "Give it to me and your girlfriend lives," the dragon repeated the command with a bit of fire in his voice.

The ninja looked at the object under his arm and then looked at the end of the alley. "Never liked her much anyway," the masked man said. He leapt through the battle that was happening and pushed his way to freedom. Successfully dodging all the blows and kicks, he found himself at the end of the alley and onto the busy street. Both the dragons and turtles stopped fighting in surprise.

"After him! Don't let him open it!" The turtles were shocked to hear the fear in Dragon Lord's voice. Whatever the Foot ninja had stolen, it was dangerous. Without pausing to really think through their actions, everyone found themselves chasing the Foot ninja out onto the street. Pedestrians gasped as they moved out of the way of the reptilian stampede. Cars honked. One taxi even crashed into the van in front because of the odd sight.

"Let's not tell Splinter about this!" Leonardo yelled as he continued to bolt down the busy street. So much for living in the shadows.

While no one could ever know what was happening in the Foot ninja's mind, for some reason he decided, mid-run, to start unwrapping the protective layer of cloth that surrounded the ancient artefact. Maybe he thought he could use the fabric to fool his pursuers in taking a wrong path. Or he planned to disguise the artefact somehow. Or maybe he just wanted to know what the heavy thing looked like. But as soon as he started unravelling, a roar rose above the streets of New York. "DON'T TOUCH IT!"

Dragon Lord's warning came too late. The ninja removed the last strand of cloth to reveal the golden skull of an ancient dragon. Amazed by what he had in his hands, he eagerly stroked down along the crown of the head and along the bony remains of the snout. He instantly stopped running. His shoulders twitched. The skull dropped to the ground.

The dragons halted their chase immediately and started to retreat. The turtles unfortunately didn't follow their lead and instead closed in. The man turned to face them. While they could only ever see a Foot ninja's eyes, that's all the turtles needed to observe. The man's eyes had turned black.

An unholy rage swept through his body. Letting out a primal growl, he leapt towards the nearest person in the street and savagely attacked them. Nails, scratching, biting, scuffling. His fighting style no longer reflected the trained ninja he was. The turtles didn't believe it at first, but they saw a black shadow, like a small, elongated Chinese dragon, creep from the ninja's body to the pedestrian's. Soon the turtles were looking at two people with solid black eyes.

From those two came more. They watched in horror as the shadow dragon multiplied and passed from one person to the next with no intent on stopping soon. Humanity was suppressed and a feral kind of creature came into being. Citizens scratched and yanked each other's clothes and hair. Primal screams of rage were emitted. Don saw one lady bite another's neck. And all this happened in just a few moments. It wasn't long before the turtles became a target of their mindless, dragon-influenced rage.

Leonardo withdrew his katana. "Remember. These are just innocent people. So no killing."

"Wanna rethink that innocent part?" Raph asked as he saw a child tackle her parents to the ground in his peripheral vision.

Like mindless zombies, the hordes of infected citizens ran towards the turtles. Out of instinct, Leo hurled a kick into the nearest group. He stopped. His body convulsed. The black demonic shadow engulfed him. His eyes turned black. His mind turned feral.

A split second behind Leo's initial attack was Michelangelo. He never had the chance to see what had happened to his brother. Mikey did his standard attack on one possessed person in the crowd. His nunchuck wrapped around their wrist, and while pulling them by the arm, forcing them off balance, he swept their legs out from underneath. But what used to be a tried and true method of quickly taking out an opponent was now a grievous mistake. As soon as his leg connected with the other person's, Michelangelo also lost his mind.

Donatello and Venus both had weapons that could be used at a longer range, and not being part of the front line like Leo and Mikey, they therefore had more time to observe what was happening. "Don't make physical contact!" Donatello called out.

It was just in time. Raphael was about to kick someone back, but being a trained warrior, he managed to avert the attack mid-strike. He back flipped away in order to regain some distance between his mindless opponents. His heart bulged in fear when he noticed that Leonardo and Michelangelo were now part of the hordes.

"If you touch them, you get infected," Donatello reiterated. The three turtles found themselves not fighting at all and instead just taking backward steps as the feral crowd advanced. It had quickly become a hopeless situation.

"Gotta run," Raphael realised. The other two didn't argue.

The three bolted down the street, racing against the spread of the infection. They pushed past unwary citizens who seconds later became their enemies. All the time those little black dragons just leapt from one body to another as soon as it had made physical contact. Even people in their cars weren't safe, as the possessed would either reach in the window or just smash it, desperate to start mauling the passengers inside. Soon people could sense the incoming danger and began to run away from it as well. With such panic in the streets, the turtles found themselves running at the heels of others. Losing gaps in the crowd to push through, the turtles were slowed down.

A teenage woman jumped out from in front of car. Black eyes. Donatello was mid-run and there was nothing he could do to avoid collision. Raphael looked back in time to notice his brother had been lost to the infection. There was nothing he could do now. Venus was all he had left.

Raphael grabbed onto the female turtle's hand, not wanting to get separated in the crowds. He yanked her over onto the road, as running in-between the stopped cars seemed less crowded than the sidewalks. The air was filled with screams. First of the ones who were fleeing, and then there were the calls of the demented. Squeezing past some of the cars, soon their path opened up into a massive intersection. Raphael recognised it immediately. Times Square.

The infection spread all around. Venus watched in horror as a small group of people got bottlenecked on the sidewalk. Within seconds they became possessed. At Times Square it was reaching a stage where it was nearly impossible to tell who was infected and who was not. Everyone began to act the same. "We need to find a manhole," Venus demanded. She didn't want to stay topside for even a second longer.

"I don't know where one is," Raph panicked. Venus noticed that he was frantically looking towards the ground.

"What?" She didn't believe him.

"I've never been here before," Raph revealed the horrible truth. The famous landmark had always been too busy. Too out in the open. Even with trench coats and fedoras, too many people passed through the place. The chances of someone being curious and stooping to look under their hats were always too great a risk. So Times Square was forbidden. The rule was made years ago and had never been broken. Raphael had always imagined what it would be like to visit the tourist destination. But it was nothing like this.

A person brushed past Raph's shoulder. His heart skipped a beat. He froze in fear. It took a second to relax again. He had been lucky. They weren't infected. Venus clutched his hand tighter. A person was close. Black eyes in his peripheral vision. The possessed targeted another poor soul instead of him. Fifteen seconds would be all they'd have left. Times Square was compromised. His eyes flitted from place to place. Car tyre. Street surface. Puddle. Storm drain. Storm drain!

"Move!" Raph yelled. He tugged Venus towards the storm grate. There wasn't time for gentleness. An infected was just a foot behind. Venus threw one of her kai mi balls. The blast of chi energy threw them back. A temporary save. With his free hand he wrenched the grate up. "Jump!"

Within seconds they found themselves submerged in water. Fast flowing water. Venus slammed along the walls. Slippery. There was nothing to hold onto. The tunnels were brimming with water due to the excess run-off from the storm earlier. Total darkness. Every so often there was a patch of light. Street lamps shining through the grates. A left turn. Then a right. Body smacking against concrete. Sometimes taking a breath resulted in a gulp of rainwater instead. Turn after turn after turn. Then it ended.

There was a moment of weightlessness when Venus was flushed out from the pipe, splashing into a river. Raphael was just behind, dropping in right on top of her. He was quick to regain his senses and immediately started to tread water. Venus however was floundering. Raph grabbed the top rim of her carapace, pulling her up to the surface. He started to swim, dragging Venus along.

"C'mon Vee!" Raph managed to gasp. "Get those instincts kicking in!"

While it wasn't a usual habit of his to go swimming, Raphael had quite a few experiences before. He never formally learnt how to swim. They were turtles; it just came naturally. Venus on the other hand had rarely been into deep water. There was panic in her strokes. But Raph knew she had it in her. She just had to stop thinking and allow her body to do the work.

"Gotta calm down," Raph spluttered, having trouble keeping his head above water while also keeping Venus afloat. Yet she continued to kick wildly about, interrupting his legs that were treading water. "Calm down!" Raph said more forcefully. He let go. Venus splashed for another second before his voice finally got through to her mind. Her body relaxed and she managed to find some sort of balance in the water.

While the days in October could still be considered warm, the temperature tended to drop at night. The water meanwhile was freezing. "Can't stay here," Raph said the obvious. "Think you can follow?" With some lights by the shoreline he was able to see Venus nod her head. Not wasting any more time, they began to swim. Channelling their ancestral reptilian roots, their strokes fell into a rhythm, naturally performing a movement similar to breaststroke. Raphael didn't have any particular plan. He didn't even know where exactly he was. But he did want to swim away from the awful screams that were being carried across the water's surface by the wind.

A quiet place loomed up ahead. The two turtles began to put more power into their strokes. Their muscles were stiffening from the cold. With their determination pushing them through, they arrived at a small dock containing a few moored fishing boats. Glad to get out of the river, Raphael clambered up the sodden wood steps at the base of the pier, turning back momentarily to give Venus a hand in climbing out as well.

On dry land again, they finally had a chance to stop. It was safe where they were, at least for the time being. Raphael looked back the way they came. They had just swum the Hudson. No longer even on the island of Manhattan, they could observe the famous city skyline from afar. The screams could still be heard. Like mirrors, the windows of the many skyscrapers reflected the flames of the fires that had started in the streets. There was an unhealthy glow of orange. If one didn't know any better they'd think there was a citywide riot. But the two turtles knew of the true horror inside, and that the rest of their species had been swallowed up by the monster within. They'd lost everything that night.

Well, almost everything. Raphael looked towards Venus as she coughed up some seawater. Her thighs were trembling from the adrenaline, her arms shivered from the cold, while her bandanna tail was stuck oddly around her neck, sopping wet. He had never seen her so… bedraggled. Raphael was exhausted himself. He couldn't believe everything they'd just been through.

Raph opened his arms and wanted to say 'come here', but no words managed to slip out through his despair. Venus understood his body language anyway and gladly accepted the hug. She shivered in his arms while her teeth chatted on his shoulder. But he was warm; male turtles had a higher body temperature.

Raphael wasn't usually the hugging type. He would normally shrug the other turtle off in disgust whenever they'd try to soften him up with a public display of affection. His brothers knew he hated it and therefore had turned it into a game; a challenge to see who could actually get a hug from Raph. But since that never happened, watching the doomed interaction had become a form of entertainment. Of course that wasn't always the case. Whenever there was a tough battle and they had come out as victors, the boys would give each other an elated hug and a celebratory pat on the back. No judgement with the display of emotions, just excited to still be alive.

But this was different. Raphael could never hug one of his brothers like this. As hard as Venus tried to fit in with the group, she would never be one of the boys, as she just brought a different energy. She was a girl after all. And in this embrace, Raphael appreciated it. With her, he could just be open and show the pain of defeat; he didn't need to hold up a mask and in a manly way pretend that he was unaffected. He was hurting, so was she, and they both accepted it. It was a trust he couldn't share with anyone else but her.

Venus allowed her mind to go adrift. She reminisced about her early life back in Shanghai. She would wear a long cloak to disguise herself whenever she went outside. But the locals knew. She would come home crying about all the horrible things the other kids would say about her looks. And Chung I would just scoop her up and give her a cuddle, letting her know that it was going to be all okay. As she grew older, she was taught that Shinobis were to remain focussed and in some cases, emotionally distant. Any affection that was shown towards her usually wasn't through physical contact.

It was the same during her years in America. The boys never had a girl living with them before, and so they acted differently, altering their behaviour. She would see them hug after a battle from time to time, and sometimes she was included too, but that usually wasn't the case. They became self-conscious with an action that was normally instinctual, as though they didn't know if they were crossing a boundary. Yet by trying to respect her space, at the same time, they unwittingly made her feel awkward, separated from the rest of the team.

As a result, it had been many years since she had been hugged like this. It was the perfect time – she needed it now more than ever. If she weren't so exhausted, Venus would've sobbed in Raph's arms. Their situation just seemed so hopeless. Instead she just allowed the stillness of the moment to take over. She could hear Raphael's heart beat; fast at first, but over the next few minutes it slowed. Her teeth stopped chattering as she regained some control over her body, particularly her breathing. Soon Raphael and Venus were both in sync; they would feel the rise of each breath and the depression of exhaling. It was odd to find that moment of calmness. But as soon as it was found, it was lost with the thoughts of what they were going to do next.

Raphael was a tactile person. He needed to physically deal with things. He didn't like to plan things from afar. He wanted to be right there and hit them. Now he faced an enemy he couldn't even touch. He didn't even understand it. All that he had left in the world was right there in his arms, and it was that direct contact – the idea that at least Venus was still there for him – which gave him the most comfort. That hug, while so simple a gesture, meant the world to them both.

Neither of them knew how much time had passed. Eventually they parted from each other. There was no awkwardness; it just felt so natural in the moment. "You okay?" Raph checked.

"I'm good," Venus said. It didn't mean that she was fine, rather that she was ready to continue on with whatever else the night held for them. Raphael sighed and pulled his Shell Cell from his belt. It was clogged with water. Useless. Of course it was. It was just their luck.

"Let's just find a landline and call Splinter," Raphael said. Venus simply nodded. Raphael looked as exhausted as her. It was as though all the fight and anger in him was washed away back in the storm drain. She had never seen him so defeated. As the day finally came to and end with the clock ticking past midnight, Venus followed his weary lead into the unknown streets.


	4. Insight

Author's Note: Originally this chapter was going to include another scene, mainly for plot structure reasons. However this chapter ended up being a lot longer than I thought it would, in total coming to 17 pages! As much as it pained me to split this up, I know it's hard to read a computer screen after a while, so I made the cut. The good news is that the next update will be uploaded in a day or so, as the following scene can probably serve as a chapter in itself - just have to make a few edits and that's it. So enjoy!

Chapter 4: Insight

_10__th__ October 2000_

Venus quietly watched as Raphael hung up the phone after speaking to Splinter. Not having the money to operate a payphone, they managed to sneak into a small office building not far from the wharf.

"What did Master Splinter say?" Venus asked. It alarmed her when Raphael never answered the question. He just stood silently in front of the phone, his hand still on the top of the receiver. A few minutes ago when he was hearing the voice of his teacher, there was hope in his eyes, but Venus had observed that feeling die as the conversation progressed. Now Raphael was just dejected.

"I need to call April and Casey," Raph finally spoke up; as though he had recharged enough willpower to keep finding a solution to the mess they found themselves in. Venus nodded in understanding while Raphael dialled in the number he knew off by heart. He was relieved to hear a voice on the other end.

"Hello?" It was Casey.

"Casey! Are you alright? How's April?" Raph hurriedly asked. Casey and April had married a few years earlier and now they were expecting their first child. Due in just a few months time, Raphael couldn't bear the thought of April being infected, or getting injured, or doing anything that might risk the life of the unborn baby.

"We're fine. For now at least. We tried calling you guys earlier but none of you were picking up."

"Venus and I took a dip in the Hudson. Shell Cells were destroyed. Leo, Don and Mikey… they're one of them now. We lost them, Casey," Raph sadly admitted.

"You mean they're now hanging out with the rest of the crazies outside?"

"So they've already reached the Bronx," Raph sighed. He knew the infection was spreading fast, but he just didn't want to accept it.

"What's going on, Raph? April was having one of her weird food cravings and I was about to go out to buy the stuff when I heard some screaming down the street. Looked out the window and saw a bunch of people terrorising others. Crazy people. Thought they were on something. Grabbed my hockey stick hoping to sort them out, but by the time I did that, everyone in the street was a basket case."

"I dunno what it is. All I know is that you can't touch them. If you touch them, you become one of them," Raphael warned. "Leo, Don and Mikey found that out the hard way," he remorsefully added.

"Do you know if there's a cure?"

"I don't even know what this thing is," Raph admitted his defeat.

"Look, we'll barricade the door and the windows with everything we've got. Don't you worry about us. Just make sure you get to a safe place, 'kay Raph?" There was a brief pause. "Can you make it back to the lair? What about Splinter?"

"We can't make it back home. We're not even in Manhattan any more. But I spoke to Master Splinter. He's fine," Raph said.

"And what did he say?"

Raphael shifted uncomfortably. He didn't like the answer. "He said he didn't know what to do."

There was silence at the other end of the phone. Venus was stunned for a moment as well. Now she finally understood why Raphael didn't answer her question before – he didn't want to admit that they were directionless. Even though Splinter didn't raise her, she did have a lot of respect for him, and it was frightening to think that even he didn't have a clue as to what to do next. Knowing that they were now truly alone with no one else to rely on, Venus' mind scrambled for at least some reasonable solution.

"He's going to do whatever he can in the lair. Don't think there's much he can do though. You can phone him if you want," Raph added.

"The Dragon Skull… It's the year of the dragon…" Venus started muttering. Raphael paused to look at her. Observing her face, he could almost see the memories resurface from her mind. Something she had read or heard a long time ago. "It's a chi imbalance. Yin and yang. I think it's the yin!" Venus started to babble. Baffled by Venus' bizarre outburst as though she suddenly knew what the problem was, Raphael handed the phone to her, thinking she might be able to add to the conversation. "Dragon Lord! He needed the Dragon Skull. It's year of the dragon. But it creates dragon chi. But yin has gotten out. The chi needs to be balanced!"

"Ooookay," Casey said in response. "Venus, can you put Raph back on?"

A bit embarrassed, Venus obliged and handed the phone over again. "Raph here," he said when the transaction was complete.

"Listen Raph. I don't know what's happening. Neither does Splinter. Venus sounds crazy and I have no clue what that was all about, but I think she's the best shot we have at dealing with this thing. So you gotta do one thing for me…"

"Name it."

"Take care of Venus."

"What do you think I'm doing?" Raphael was slightly insulted by the obvious instruction.

"No Raph. Don't brush this off. Listen to me. Take care of her." Raphael was about to interject again but Casey continued. The man wanted to get his meaning across. "Understand me. Venus may act tough sometimes. But don't let her fool you – she's scared, Raph. I think you can relate to that. She's all you've got right now. All we've got. And Venus only has you. She doesn't know this city, Raph. You have to take care of her. So don't wander off like a big, angry hulk, trying to solve this thing by yourself. You need to work together on this. You gotta have patience with this thing, come up with plans, do all that Leo stuff. You have to be really careful this time around, because if either one of you gets infected, then it's over."

"I getcha," Raphael said, understanding and soaking in his friend's words of wisdom. The two turtles jumped in shock when a loud crash could be heard from down the street. The familiar sound of an unnatural scream followed. "We gotta go. The infection just made it across the bridge." With nothing else to say, Raphael quickly hung up the phone. He moved towards the window to confirm his suspicions. The infection spread fast. It had already moved outside of Manhattan. "Can't stay here. Come on. I saw a sewer entrance near this building."

They were efficient with their movements, knowing they didn't have much time to waste. Sprinting from the office building, Raphael led Venus to the manhole cover he saw earlier. The infected were quickly racing up the street. Like an expert, Raphael easily lifted up the manhole cover and allowed Venus to hop down first and then him. Pitch black inside, they huddled together while they heard some scratching on the metal cover above them.

"Are we safe here?" Venus whispered fearfully.

"Manhole covers are heavy. Humans suck at lifting them. And these guys only have half a brain. They won't figure it out," Raphael comforted. "Come on. Let's find a good spot." Raph found her hand and began to lead her through the darkness. She could probably move fine on her own, as being one with the shadows was practically a ninja turtle birthright, but Raph figured it was just easier to know exactly where she was at all times. Besides, although he'd never admit it, holding her hand comforted him.

Using his free hand to feel his way along the walls of the sewers, they made a few turns. Eventually some light streamed down the tunnel. A line of electric bulbs hung from the ceiling, most likely for maintenance staff.

"Will there be humans here?" Venus asked in a hushed tone.

"Shouldn't be. The sewers are a big place. Sometimes staff only check a tunnel twice a month. Take water samples, stuff like that," Raph assured her.

"And what about the infected?" Venus wondered.

"It's not like anyone can just walk into the sewers. You know how hard it is to just get in sometimes." Raph was right – the sewers tended to be designed to keep people out. Planning and a fair amount of exploration were sometimes needed in order to get underneath the city. So the chances of a mindless, rabid human making their way down into the sewers and coming across their path was fairly remote.

Continuing to explore, they eventually came across a narrow passageway that was only one person wide. It led into a small rectangular room, with another narrow tunnel leading from it to the right. Raphael didn't know why this alcove existed, as there was nothing but the concrete walls of the room, but he did like the idea that there were two possible exits just in case they needed to make a quick escape. "Let's camp here," Raphael commanded.

Venus was relieved to hear those words. She was exhausted. It wasn't long before she sat down, her back lying up against one of the walls. But Raphael wasn't ready to rest just yet. "So do you wanna tell me what all this is about?" Raph prompted her.

"I don't have my scrolls with me, so I can't be sure. But I recall Chung I telling me once about how the dragons must recharge their energy every twelve years," Venus said.

"Recharge? They battery operated now?" Raph joked. Venus didn't smile. She either didn't get it, or she just wasn't in the mood. "Sorry. Continue."

"I've told you before that dragons are creatures of magic. They used to rule the earth. That was until Shinobi Shamans managed to destroy the original dragon – the one all others were born from. When the first dragon died, all the descendants began to grow weaker in power. That was until they discovered that the skull of the first dragon had restoration powers," Venus explained.

"So that's what was stolen tonight. The skull of the great granddaddy of all dragons." Raph was trying his best to follow.

"Correct."

"So how come everyone else is going crazy?" Raphael couldn't put the pieces together yet.

"It's because of the chi energy. Our chi, our life force, comes in two parts. Yin and yang. Most people have more of one than the other. I tend to have a bit more yin. You, on the other hand, are overloaded with yang. But dragon chi; they are creatures of magic, and so they have a perfect balance of both. If a dragon touches the skull of their ancestor, they will have their chi replenished, their magic powers restored. But if someone who doesn't have a perfect balance of yin and yang touches it, then the skull compensates and pushes out too much of the opposite energy. It doesn't replenish, but rather corrupts. If I'm right, then what we saw tonight was a manifestation of the yin. It would be like having your energy, your essence, replaced by something else. An extreme imbalance. The body instinctually longs to restore itself, and so it seeks out to touch a life force which is operating normally, but of course, the Dragon chi, the Yin, is so powerful, it just keeps corrupting," Venus said.

"So that's why the crazies up there will go for anyone who isn't infected yet, but they don't seem to just attack each other," Raphael wondered out loud, hoping he was on the same track as Venus. He always thought her beliefs were weird, but tonight he just had to go along for the journey.

"I think that's what's happening," Venus confirmed.

"So how do we stop it?" Raphael wanted to move right along.

"Once the skull is in the hands of a dragon, the skull should automatically emit the right energy to restore the imbalance. Yang should be released."

"So the only person who can stop this thing is Dragon Lord? Great, just peachy," Raph muttered. Frustrated, he punched the nearby concrete wall. He quickly regretted it as he hissed with pain.

"It is the only solution, Raphael," Venus admitted.

"Yeah, but why would Dragon Lord want to stop this? The city is in chaos. It's what he wants!" Raph argued.

"He wants to take over the world. Right now he has no control over it," Venus reminded him.

"But if the dragons have perfect chi balance or whatever, they can't get infected, right?"

"I don't think they can, no," Venus answered after some thought.

"Yeah, so they can just walk around New York City. No problems! Everyone else; can't touch anyone!" Raph hated the idea that his enemies had the upper hand.

"Yes, they can walk around while millions of infected people try to rip them apart," Venus said, hoping that Raph would finally understand the problem. He did. The male turtle remained silent for a few moments as he calmed down and began to think straight again.

"They're trapped like us, aren't they?" Raphael wondered. "The skull… it's still lying out in the open, in that busy street! They won't be able to get to it," Raph said, allowing the gravity of their situation to sink in. "They don't have the numbers or the skill to fight off that many attackers," he continued to think out loud. "So we have to bring the skull to them. It's the only real solution."

"Raph-"

"-We know the sewers better than them. We can get as close as we can to where the skull was dropped!" His mind was whirring, excited to be clicking together what seemed like a plan. Then it fell apart. "But… Dammit," Raphael cursed, quickly frustrated again. "Even if we used that cloth or whatever that was wrapped around that skull… I dunno if even we can grab it safely and play no-touchies with all those rage zombies up there."

Venus hesitated in answering. She knew of a solution, but it was one she didn't like. "I think I know of a way where we can touch the skull and those with imbalanced chi energy without being infected… But I don't think I can do it, I don't have my scrolls…"

"So we'll phone Splinter. He can read them over the phone."

"He can't read ancient Chinese dialects, Raphael. Even I have trouble reading them." Venus swiftly killed that plan. "But… maybe if I manage to obtain perfect balance of my own chi, then I shouldn't become corrupted."

"Great, then do that," Raph said, thinking everything had just been solved.

Venus scoffed at Raphael's lack of understanding. "A perfect balance of yin and yang? That's like a monk achieving enlightenment. Only the most experienced Shinobi Shamans have perfect chi."

"Venus… You've got to try," Raphael encouraged her. She gave him a doubtful look. "I've seen what you can do. I know you can do it," Raph urged.

"It'll require a lot of meditation," Venus explained.

"Meditate all you want. I'll just be here, waiting quietly. Whatever you need," Raph said, wanting to be helpful.

Venus appreciated his optimism though she still remained incredibly uncertain concerning her own ability. But was there really another option? "Okay. I'll try," Venus conceded.

"Good," Raph said. Venus just stared at him. "Well go on then," Raph ordered.

"I'm tired, Raphael!" Venus complained. He really didn't comprehend the difficulty of the task. She suddenly found herself sympathising with Donatello when he was constantly asked to overhaul vehicles or create weaponry he'd never experimented with before all in the space of a few days.

"You can sleep later. World's not going to save itself, you know," Raphael pushed.

Venus let out an irritated huff. Raphael was never known for his patience. She also knew that there was no point arguing with him. Having no choice but to give it a try, she crossed her legs and poised herself ready to meditate. Raphael finally sat down and watched from the opposite end of the room as she closed her eyes and slowed her breath. As Venus tried to clear her mind, Raphael grew fascinated with her amount of focus. When it came to meditating, Venus was the best in their family. Raphael, meanwhile, just had trouble staying awake whenever he attempted meditation, and he wondered how Venus managed to do it… that was until he saw her head nod and suddenly jerk upwards. Even she couldn't fight off the strong pull of sleep tonight.

"I'm sorry," Raphael spoke up. Venus tiredly opened her eyes. "You're right. We need to sleep." Years ago he would never had admitted that he was wrong, but he was old enough now to realise that sometimes it was okay to make mistakes.

"What about the world?" Venus asked.

"It'll still be just as messed up tomorrow," figured Raphael. Venus gave a small smile, pleased to see the turtle's impatience had given way to maturity. But as she started to lie down, she was stopped once more. "Venus?"

"What is it?" she wondered.

"If we manage to pull this off; get the skull, fight off the crazies, give it to Dragon Lord and cure everyone… what happens to Dragon Lord?" Raphael had a feeling he wasn't going to like the answer.

"He gets more powerful," Venus solemnly spoke.

"Instantly?"

"No. It's a gradual process," Venus clarified, though she knew a deeper response was necessary. "The first dragon ever created was immortal and its power was limitless. But its offspring… You see, dragons may live for long time. Centuries, even. But their power eventually runs dry and they can pass away. Unless they go back to their source, their ancestor, and re-energise themselves. Dragons used to do this every twelve years, coinciding with the Chinese New Year cycle; the Year of the Dragon. But the Shinobi Shamans put a stop to that when they imprisoned the Dragon Lord and the rest of them in the mirror. With no access to his ancestor, he grew weaker and weaker over the centuries. This will be the first time he would've had the chance to recharge in generations. We've never fought him at full strength before."

"And here I thought we were getting stronger. But now you're saying our enemies have just been getting weaker?" Raphael wasn't pleased.

"Yes," Venus said, even though it was a rhetorical question.

"When you say more powerful, what will he be like?" Raph wondered.

"Stronger. Physically. And better with magic. But mostly just bigger. A lot bigger," Venus guessed. "I'll have to consult my scrolls on that more."

"Wait, so he really has been getting smaller!?" Raphael was surprised, but also comforted to know that he wasn't just going insane. His exclamation elicited a smile from Venus. "So do we have to give the skull to him at all?"

"Even if I achieve a perfect balance of chi, I would only be able to hold the skull, not cure everyone. Only a dragon can do that."

"So we'll get Dragon Lord to cure everyone, then fight him," Raphael planned.

"We can't fight all our battles at once, Raphael." Her words of wisdom penetrated and calmed his worrisome mind. He didn't respond. Instead he just accepted the facts, even though he didn't like the situation. While he desired to tackle everything at once, he had to consciously slow himself down and remember to just focus on one problem at a time. Casey's advice came back into his mind. 'Take care of her'.

"Goodnight, Vee," Raph said, finally content. Now given his consent, Venus happily closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. It wasn't long till Raphael followed.

Having gone to bed so late, it must've been past midday when Raphael finally stirred from his sleep. Groggily opening his eyes, he flinched slightly when he noticed something on his plastron. He was about to instinctually whack it away when he suddenly realised that it was Venus. No longer on the opposite side of the room, she must have crawled over during the early hours of the morning to sleep beside him. Now the female turtle was curled up next to him, her head gently resting on his plastron.

Being one to love his personal space, he usually didn't tolerate someone sharing his sleeping quarters. He remembered when he was just a small turtle. Their family's first few lairs weren't that big; some of them only slightly larger than the room they were in now. Naturally they had no choice but to share the floor they slept on, and it was common for Raphael to swat Donatello's foot whenever it neared his head, or to shove Michelangelo away as he had a habit of wanting to be the 'big spoon' in the middle of the night. Raphael was so happy when they discovered their latest lair, the abandoned subway station, as finally they could all have their own 'rooms'.

It was the first time in years that Raphael had someone sleeping beside him. After initially resisting his urges to treat her the same as he did with his brothers, he quickly discovered that he didn't mind her presence. As he lay there, observing her head and her deep breaths of slumber, a feeling of peacefulness swept over him. Although a minute later Venus began to wake, as though she sensed that she was being watched.

"Sorry," Venus muttered when she noticed her position and the fact that Raphael was awake. Raph could see her blush.

"I didn't mind," Raphael admitted.

"It was cold last night," Venus explained. Curious, Raphael reached forward and clasped her braided aqua bandanna.

"It's still wet," Raph commented. "You should've told me," he added, for some reason feeling responsible or otherwise negligent. Venus was about to respond but was caught off guard when Raphael sat up and gently slipped off her mask. He gave a small and quiet gasp. She was actually prettier with her bandanna removed. It surprised him, as he naturally found her very attractive even though she had no comparison.

Venus shifted uncomfortably. Raph averted his gaze when he realised that he had been staring at her for a few seconds too long. Venus gently took the bandanna from his hands and tried to wring out the water. Not wet but still damp, she only managed to squeeze out a drop or two, leaving the bandanna on the ground once she had given up. "I should try to meditate now," Venus spoke softly. She stood up and moved away from Raph's side, assuming her position at the other end of the room.

Raphael took the moment to talk to her before she got too involved. "I've been thinking… I might head off and try to find a boat. I don't fancy a swim in the Hudson again."

"Should I come with you?"

"No, it's more important that you do this. I'll only be a few hours," Raph assured her. She didn't look comforted. "I'll be careful. I'm just going to stick to the sewers for now. Shouldn't come across any people."

As much as she hated the thought of potentially being alone, she knew it was wise for him to work on the logistical side of their plan. She bid him a solemn farewell before closing her eyes, clearing her mind, and setting to work.

Just as he said, Raphael returned a few hours later. He spent most of his time exploring the nearby tunnels, checking out where the manholes were and where they popped up in the street. He didn't find one close enough to the docks just yet, but he was determined to discover a safe pathway tomorrow. But he was satisfied with the amount he accomplished, even though he didn't want to stray too far in case he couldn't find his way back.

His relief in finding their little hiding spot was quickly replaced with concern when he noticed Venus' expression upon entering. She had been crying. As soon as she noticed him she wiped away any remaining tears and ashamedly turned her head away. Raphael rarely ever saw her cry – if she ever did, he figured she'd do so in the privacy of her own room. Yet there was no place to hide here. Even though he wasn't the master of his own emotions, known to sometimes resort to his own tears of anguish, he still didn't know how to handle the situation. Unlike Leonardo, he wasn't great with words, and unlike Michelangelo, he wasn't the best at comforting others either. But he couldn't just ignore Venus' emotions as that would be considered cruel. So Raphael simply stood there awkwardly until at least something to say came to his mind.

"What's wrong?" Raphael inquired. It wasn't anything original, but it was a start.

Venus still had her head turned away, too embarrassed to look at him. "It's nothing," she murmured.

Raphael didn't accept that answer for even a second. He was about to blurt out one of his typical smart aleck responses, probably along the lines of telling her that if it was really nothing then she should get over it. But he stopped himself, holding back every instinctual urge that he had. Raph knew from many past experiences that those types of words did nothing to help the situation. Yet it was true – eventually Venus would reach a point where she'd stop crying because she would 'get over' whatever was upsetting her. But he couldn't just say it, and it frustrated him so much that his straight-to-the-point, insightful point of view would be misinterpreted. Being blunt wasn't the answer; using finesse was. He exhaled loudly in aggravation, frustrated with himself that he lacked the social skills for this particular circumstance. 'Take care of Venus,' Raph remembered Casey's words, motivating him onwards.

Nothing came to mind of what to say next. But being a turtle that believed actions spoke louder than words, Raphael followed his impulses and sat opposite Venus, a little under a foot away. He stayed there in silence while she continued to look away. It was awkward for a few moments, yet soon the feeling transcended into a place of calm stillness.

"I don't think I can do this Raphael," Venus finally whispered. Now a bit more composed, she dared to look into his eyes. While the tears had disappeared he could see sadness smeared across her face.

"Meditation not working?" Raph wanted to clarify. Venus gave a small nod.

"I'm not sure if Chung I could even do this. And he was one of the most respected Shinobi Shamans in China. I'm just his failure of a student," Venus said.

"Don't talk yourself down like that, Vee! You make mistakes sometimes. We all do. But I've always known you to get it done in the end," Raphael tried to encourage her.

"It was in part my responsibility to make sure Dragon Lord and the others never escaped from their prison in the mirror. But I couldn't even guard that. I couldn't save Chung I. How am I supposed to save the world?" There was so much sadness in her voice. Raphael chose to not over think things. He just listened and responded with his heart.

"But you saved Splinter. Remember? You made sure Dragon Lord didn't take another life. So I know you've got it in you. You've saved us all before," Raphael said.

"I know, Raphael…" Venus murmured. While she agreed with him, Raph knew she didn't truly believe it. "I keep thinking about them. Leonardo, Donatello and Michelangelo. I know I can't leave them like that. I've got to try. If I just gave up, then I'd never forgive myself."

"Yeah, you're certainly not a quitter," Raphael affirmed her. Venus opened her mouth, wanting to say more, but a painful thought took over and the tears returned to her eyes.

"I know… and I know I can't quit on this… But I keep wondering… What if I really can't do this, Raphael?"

She asked him a difficult question. If Venus had mentioned it right from the start, Raphael wouldn't have known how to respond; he would've been too focussed on his words and wanting to make sure he said the right thing. But after conversing with her over the last few minutes, Raphael grew comfortable in her presence and his verbal responses came naturally. "Vee… You know that some of the stuff we've had to face before has been insane. There have been times when we've gone into battle and even Leo and Splinter thought it was gonna be a one way mission. Yeah sure, one day we probably are gonna fail. But – and I know it sucks – the only way we're gonna answer the question, 'are we gonna fail' is through trying to succeed. If ya don't try, then you fail anyway. You just gotta keep going."

"And what if I don't have the skill?" Venus was still concerned.

"Venus… I trust you," Raphael said. His words finally reached Venus. She knew the sincerity behind that phrase. To gain Raphael's trust was as hard and as satisfying as obtaining a college degree. You had to earn it. It was interesting that Raphael had mentioned the time Splinter was captured by the Dragon Lord earlier, as even after helping their family, the turtle still remained slightly wary of Venus. Out of everyone in the clan, Raphael was the last to relax his guard around her. It took months.

"You know I can't do much in this. It kills me to say that. But right now I'm nothing without you. So I believe in you one hundred percent. I trust you completely on this," Raphael said. He stared straight into her eyes, making sure that she knew he meant every word. While sometimes he came across as being rather blunt and therefore mistaken as a brute, Venus realised that this wasn't Raphael's true nature at all. Instead he was an extremely perceptive turtle, having the ability to cut straight into the heart of a problem and seeing it for what it was. While he usually had trouble communicating his incredible insight, this time she felt he had nailed it.

Venus wiped away her tears one final time as a smile began to form. She felt lucky to have him around. Not bothering to contain her emotions any more, she leaned forward and gave Raphael a hug. He didn't push her away – the thought of doing so didn't even cross his mind.

"Thank you, Raphael."


	5. A Love Story

Chapter 5: A Love Story

_11__th__ October 2000_

Venus took in a deep breath. Eyes closed, she tried to visualise her chi. Like a ball of light entrenched inside of her. As she exhaled, she imagined it expanding; the power getting greater and greater. And then she wondered what Raphael was doing.

She took in a sharp breath, frustrated that her mind had wandered once again. Like the day before, Raphael went out to explore the new sewer tunnels and to hopefully secure a boat near the docks. Left alone for most of the day, the only company she had were her own thoughts.

Her mind drifted to the events that occurred last night. As she was preparing to lie down and sleep on the opposite side of the room again, Raphael welcomed her to rest beside him. His reason, of course, was that it was cold overnight, and she certainly wasn't going to argue against that. But was that really all there was to it? Warmth? Venus tended to overanalyse it in ways that only a girl could.

Then she wondered how the others were getting on. Did Leonardo, Donatello, or Michelangelo feel the cold at night? Or were they all too feral to notice? She was incredibly thankful that she wasn't the only one to escape untouched, although she felt guilty that she was rather pleased that out of all of them, it was Raphael. As horrible as the last two days had been, she was glad she had the opportunity to get to know the male turtle better. She wondered if she would've ever seen this side to Raphael in different circumstances.

Not that she didn't get along well with the others. It was no secret that Michelangelo liked her. However it remained uncertain whether he was fond of Venus because of her personality as opposed to just liking her because she was female.

Meanwhile she found Donatello to be mostly sweet natured, even though they had been raised on two entirely different paths. He usually found his answers to life through science, while Venus obtained her comfort through exploring the spiritual plane. Out of all of the boys, Venus fought with Donatello the most. She was ashamed of that because he really was a nice guy. He seemed content just to work on his own things and not disturb anyone. While the others would constantly comment on how important it was for Raphael to have some personal space, Venus believed that it was Donatello who really won the award for wanting to be alone the most. A true introvert at heart, seeking his energy from his work, it wasn't long before Venus realised that Donatello would be just as content with or without a romantic relationship. He didn't need to make room for a girl in his life.

And then there was Leonardo. That name circled in her mind for a while, bringing forth a whole host of memories. Leonardo. Back when she was seventeen and first meeting the guys, she had a small crush on Raphael. But after a few months it was Leonardo that caught her eye. As though they were two leaves sprouted from the same tree, Venus and Leonardo shared many characteristics. It may have been because he was viewed as the leader of the clan and therefore had a habit of ensuring cohesion in their small group, but he was the one that made her feel the most welcome. While Splinter answered a lot of her questions, Leonardo was also there to teach her about the Western World's customs, the city they lived in, or just their family quirks. More importantly, Leo was keen on learning from her, wanting to extend his training so he could utilise his chi energy. There were many nights where they were perfectly happy just to sit and chat to each other.

Venus could sense that everybody else in the family thought they were a good match. Their presumption was so strong that out of respect for their brother, Michelangelo tended to tone down his advances while Donatello neglected to act on whatever feelings he did have for her. Always staying true to his emotions, only Raphael acted the same. Yet Leonardo never made his move. Venus was confused for a long time, wondering if maybe her hints weren't obvious enough. But she believed he did notice them, and he felt the same way about her, although something held him back. Was he scared of commitment? Ruining their friendship? Did he view her as a distraction from his training? None of these questions sufficed, although she kept asking them many times over during a sleepless night. She considered asking him directly, but she had a feeling he wouldn't answer. There was just a piece of him that he'd never reveal. By the time she was nineteen, Venus came to accept the idea that they'd never be a couple. Free from the idea, she then just started to enjoy whatever relationship they did have.

Which left Raphael. Only a few weeks after meeting them for the first time, Venus, not knowing how inappropriate it was, actually asked Leonardo why they called Raphael ugly when it was clear that he wasn't. She innocently wondered if it was a cultural thing. Having his ego crushed a bit, Leonardo shifted uncomfortably before finally coming up with the response, "Michelangelo just likes to tease Raph." She didn't understand him at the time, though she figured it out a few months later.

Despite Raphael's more apparent flaws, such as his abrasive personality, he had actually grown up to be a very handsome turtle. And the others knew this. In fact, they found his good looks to be rather ironic. Yet being boys, they weren't in a habit of complimenting each other directly, so they said it as a sarcastic joke. Soon this comment irritated Raphael and elicited an angry response, which only goaded his brothers even more as now it had become a game. Though Venus couldn't help but wonder if Raphael actually started to believe the lie. It seemed to tap on a raw nerve. Out of everyone in the clan, Raphael hated the fact that they were mutants the most. The word 'freak' would put him into a rage. Did being called ugly remind him of his unwanted, mutant heritage?

While Venus did have a crush on Raphael because he was pleasing to the eye, she didn't like him only because of his good looks (although they certainly helped). There was something forthright about the turtle. If he didn't like something, he had no qualms in announcing his displeasure. And if he did like it, then you'd have his loyalty.

She remembered one of her first interactions with Raphael. During her first week in New York, she was easily flustered by the almost constant attention she was getting from her new family. It didn't help that she was still overcome by her emotions of grief for Chung I. She knew the boys meant well and only wanted her to be safe, but she felt pestered by them. So sometimes she would just take off; escape from the lair. Just desiring a few moments of silence. Naturally Leonardo, needing to feel in control, would constantly send someone after her. Raphael was always the most logical choice. Going out the most, he was the one who knew the city the best, while it was more convenient for him to drive his Hog as opposed to taking out the Hummer. Though why a group of stealthy ninjas picked the most conspicuous vehicles to drive around in was still rather baffling to her.

One night when Raphael caught up to her she yelled in his face, stating that she didn't need protecting. She then slapped him across the cheek and threw a kai mi ball right at his feet. That interaction didn't go down well. For a while afterwards, long past the point when Venus felt sorry for treating the turtle that way, Raphael's impression of the girl was that she was rather bothersome.

Things changed the day they received their journals and when Michelangelo awkwardly asked her whom she thought was the most attractive. All the turtles had their suspicions, but because she was the female, she confirmed it once and for all. As much as they liked to say otherwise, Raphael wasn't ugly. At a time in his life when he bickered frequently with Leo, was teased by Mikey and felt intellectually inferior to Don, her affirmation made him feel valued.

He would still follow her whenever she left the lair, but his attitude changed after that. He respected her space. She began to wonder if he tailed her because Leo told him to, or if he did it because he needed to escape as well. They had that in common. Normally only one rooftop away, she began to appreciate his presence. A few times they walked home together, though he wasn't really one for conversation so it was done in silence. Yet Raphael communicated everything in his actions – he didn't view her as a nuisance any more, rather as a companion. He was a turtle with simple rules – treat him right, and he'll like you, but go against him and he'll dish out the pain you caused. Yet he had a soul that ran much deeper and a well that was full of emotion. Spending just the last few days with him, Venus could see that he was much more of a complicated individual than a lot of people gave him credit. Incredibly intrigued, she wanted nothing more than to have the opportunity to understand him even more.

Her body tensed when she heard movement. Footsteps. She quickly relaxed when she recognised the sound – Raphael had returned. Venus exhaled in annoyance. She couldn't believe that she just spent the last half hour pondering over the boys. Venus was no closer to achieving a balance of chi than when she started. Her failings only made her more frustrated.

"How'd ya go?" Raphael asked as he entered the room.

"Nothing yet," Venus muttered. A feeling of embarrassment rose up within her. She had an incredibly serious mission, and yet here she was, foiled by her constant thoughts about her crush. Venus expected this to happen as a teenager, but now that she was a young adult, she felt she should've been above such foolish emotions.

"Found a boat. It ain't pretty. It's just a metal shell and a motor, but it'll hold," Raph told her the good news.

"That's great." Venus was really enthusiastic about his find, but her tone of voice must have been tainted by her own feelings of frustration.

"Everything 'right?" Raph sensed her dissatisfaction immediately.

"I'm annoyed with myself, that's all," Venus admitted.

"Hey, you're not doubting yourself again, are ya? I told you, you can do it," Raph said rather matter-of-factly. He really hoped that wasn't the case. If he had to give Venus a pep-talk every time he returned from going out, then he didn't know how long he'd be able to maintain his patience.

"I know. I'm just distracted," Venus murmured. Raphael waited for a longer explanation but none came. So he just stood there awkwardly for a few moments.

"Did you need me to leave?"

"No, it's not that," Venus said, suddenly realising how her last comment came across.

"Then what's distracting you?"

Venus sighed, quietly cursing Raphael for being so inquisitive as of late.

"I just wanna know if there's anything I can do?" Raphael added. She didn't answer. Raphael became confused by the mixed signals he was receiving. "Look, I don't mind if you need me to leave, but you gotta tell me what's happening and what's best for you." Now he really wanted just a straight response.

"You don't need to leave. I just need better focus," Venus reassured him. Noticing a glimmer of the look of defeat in her eyes, Raphael moved to sit beside her.

"Are you like Donny?" Venus was confused by Raph's question. "When he was younger he had trouble sleeping. Said he had too many thoughts or questions or something in his brain. Kept him awake at night. So before he went to bed, he needed to write his problems down or have discussions with Splinter," Raph explained. "So if there's something bugging you, I'm all ears," he offered.

Venus felt that sting of embarrassment pound through her veins again. Raphael could see the rise in panic and started to wonder if maybe he shouldn't have pried. Yet Venus didn't really see an exit this time and soon she experienced a surge of bravery.

"I think about you, Raphael," her response finally came.

"Me? What are you thinking about me for?" He was confused.

Venus couldn't believe that she actually once thought he was perceptive. Seriously, did she have to explain it?

"I, I think about you – a lot… because, I like you." Venus was scared of the words she just uttered. Raphael was only silent for two seconds, but it felt like a painfully long time for her.

"…Like me in what way?" Raph wondered. He just needed to be absolutely sure that he was reading her correctly before he could comment on the situation, though Venus let out an aspirated breath in frustration. Didn't he get it by now?

"Are you mocking me?" Venus wondered.

"Mocking you!?" Raphael was surprised by how quickly she had turned defensive. Then again, knowing Venus, he should've remembered that she didn't like to have her shield down for long. She was usually one to keep her thoughts to herself, particularly ones regarding her innermost feelings, so it was amazing that he managed to squeeze as much information out of her as he did. "I just wanted to make sure, before I, uh…" Now it was Raphael's turn to be nervous.

It was a feeling he didn't experience too often. He was nervous the first time he battled the Foot. Yet that was because he was a young and inexperienced ninja. Master Splinter had taught them that one of the principles of ninjutsu involved making their everyday state their fighting stance. A true ninja was alert all the time. But that didn't mean paranoia. Rather, it was the opposite – if one was perpetually ready, then a ninja was always calm in the face of danger. On the surface a battle was about landing physical hits, but really it was a fight over control. Entering with a calm and clear-headed mind, a ninja could always turn a deadly situation to play in their favour. When Casey first met Raphael, he thought he liked to fight for the thrill of it, but after getting to know him better, Casey was surprised to find out that the turtle fought in order to relax. "Need to go out and blow off some steam," was a common phrase Raphael would use.

No, nervousness hardly ever played a role in Raphael's life. But now it seemed that the emotion had caught up to him.

"I, uh… I like you too," Raphael finally managed to utter.

"Like me in what way?" She wasn't angry any more, though Venus was being cheeky. The sassy side to her personality didn't make an appearance all too often, though Raphael always enjoyed it when it did.

"I think you know what way." Teasing her a bit, Raphael didn't want to give Venus the satisfaction of hearing him say it outright. Venus couldn't hold back her smile at his response. The proverbial ice had been broken. But where to go from here?

Raphael's nerves quickly returned. This was Venus he was speaking to. Over the course of his life, through the adventures and battles he faced, he encountered quite a number of female allies, both human and mutant. While he and his brothers liked to fantasise the possibility of being something more, they all knew they didn't stand much of a chance. Inter-species relationships just came with their own sets of problems. And then Venus came along. A female mutant turtle. The match was the holy grail of possibilities. A relationship wasn't going to get any less complicated than this. Mess it up and they'd lose their chance forever.

Raphael understood that the stakes were high and so he didn't want to treat things in a light-hearted fashion. Venus noticed the serious look across his face. Sincerity quickly followed, though it was still mixed in with the nerves. "Venus… I've been thinking about you a lot lately. About us, and uh…" he trailed off, not really knowing what exactly he wanted to say. Raphael cursed his nerves and his inability to articulate what he really meant. Stubborn, he tried again. "Like, I can't focus… When I was out getting the boat, I just kept thinking about you. Not that I was worried about you or anything… I mean, I do worry about you, just don't think that I feel that you can't protect yourself… but I would just wonder about you…". It still didn't come out right, but he hoped that Venus would at least understand the essence of what he was trying to say. She did.

"I do the same," Venus admitted, saving Raphael from completing his swiftly deteriorating sentences. "About silly things, really." She tried to explain her thoughts, though it seemed that she was experiencing Raph's similar problem. "I think Americans call this a crush," she admitted.

Raphael grimaced at the word. "A crush?"

"Something wrong?" Venus grew concerned.

"It's just 'a crush'…" Raph commented on her choice of words. "A crush to me is just something irrational you go through once in a while and then you get over it. But… when I think about you…" Once again he had to stop. He huffed in frustration. Usually he was great at saying exactly what was on his mind. Why was this so difficult?

"…I don't want these feelings to go away," Venus completed his thought.

"Yeah," Raph uttered while a feeling of relief settled between them. But his nerves weren't finished toying with him yet. "Venus… I've, uh… Ever since I met you… I have admired you more than any girl I have ever met… since I, uh, since I met you."

It sounded a lot more romantic in his head.

Venus understood his sentiment nonetheless. Raphael tried desperately to resist the urge to either smack his head against the wall or shrivel up in his shell. But he knew he could do better than that. "Vee… I guess, what I'm trying to say…" He paused again. The thought just collapsed out from under his tongue. He didn't really know what he was trying to say any more. "Ah stuff this," he muttered, fed up with himself. Relying on the trustworthiness of his instincts, he leaned in and just kissed the girl.

Venus was shocked for second, as she found his actions rather abrupt and forward. Then again, that's what she liked about him. Raised as a Shinobi Shaman, she was taught to remain reserved and cautious. But there were times in life when she just wanted to break out of her shell, and Raphael tended to expose that side of her. There was just something liberating about being around him. In a way, Venus wasn't just excited about getting to know Raphael, but also she was curious to learn more about this forbidden part of herself.

Both turtles couldn't believe it; they'd just experienced their first kiss. It was a surreal moment. If one were to ask them years ago if they'd ever find love they would've scoffed at the idea. They'd both grown up through their childhood and early teenage years honestly believing that there was no one in the world for them. Sharing a kiss used to be a foolish thought but now it was a dream come true.

And it was wonderful.

"I, um, don't know if that solved your problem," Raphael said, referring to Venus' initial complaint about not being able to find focus.

Venus gave a little giggle along with a smile. "At least you're a good distraction," Venus admitted. Raphael chuckled before Venus leaned in for another kiss.

While they were happy to be in each other's company, 'distraction' was a word that never left their minds. Although the pieces in their lives were falling into place, the rest of the world, however, was still falling part.


	6. Hunger

Chapter 6: Hunger

_12__th__ October 2000_

"This is the one," Raphael murmured to Venus as he hungrily eyed the supermarket across the street. Nearing three days without food was starting to take its toll. Being reptiles, the turtles could last longer than humans without any sustenance, but it would prove to be counter-productive to ignore the gnaw in their stomachs any longer. The increasing hunger pains only made it even more difficult for Venus to concentrate on what was already a near-impossible task. Getting food had now become the top priority.

Raph shuffled over on the ladder to give Venus room to take a look. He remembered when he and his brothers were small enough to all peep from underneath a manhole cover simultaneously. It took a bit of balance but it could be done. Nowadays it seemed that just fitting two turtles on the ladder was extremely difficult, and even then it was only because the manholes were slightly larger on this side of the Hudson compared to what they were used to closer to home. Practically plastron against plastron, they held onto the ladder with one side of their body while they braced themselves against the curved opposite wall with the other. Raph used his head to keep the manhole cover propped up by an inch. Eventually the metal grooves would dig into his scales, but it was a much easier option than trying to find a position where he could use a hand instead.

The supermarket couldn't have been any more than twenty strides away. Since the infection in the area spread during the middle of the night, the store's doors were locked tight and all the lights were off. It was a similar story with the rest of the retailers in the street. Compared with what they saw at Times Square, the road was deserted. Only thirty or so zombies could be spotted wandering mindlessly about. But when a simple touch was all that was needed to become one of them, even just a handful were too many.

"And this is the best place?" Venus wondered.

"From what I've seen, yeah. Look, other places are too far to run to – the manhole is just too far away. I found a supermarket that's closer, but it's right near a bridge. Tonnes of crazies around there. This is as good as it's gonna get," Raph explained.

It may have been the safest option, but Venus wasn't comforted. "How are you going to get over there?" She really hoped there was a plan. Raphael didn't answer immediately. "Run?" Venus feared that was going to be his answer.

"Do I really look that crazy to you?" Raph asked with sarcasm. "I mean, I'm hungry, just not _that_ hungry," he added. Sure, he did at one point consider just running over to the store. That was until something changed his mind.

"See that guy with the yellow shirt? Ten o'clock?" Raph started. Venus nodded, noticing the skinny man he was referring to. "I think he lived across the street. Saw him try to make the dash yesterday. Only made it halfway," he grimly reported.

"Why? Surely he would have had enough food still in his apartment?" Venus pondered with confusion.

Raphael shrugged. He hadn't actually thought about it until she mentioned it. "I dunno," he said instantly. Then he contemplated about it some more. "I've seen some weird stuff over the years though. Like this one time, the Purple Dragons were threatening this businessman in an alleyway. He wasn't cornered or anything. Could've just turned around and ran; got outta there, you know? But he just froze. Didn't even move when a punch was flying towards his face," Raph recalled. "And then there was this other time. This guy, I think he ran some technology company that competed with the Foot or something. But here he was, ambushed by Foot ninjas, and all he had to do was hand over an electronic chip. That's it. But instead he decides to rush at the one ninja in the group who's holding a katana. Got sliced before we could reach him. Stupid, really," he said. Though he still hadn't made his point. "I don't think I'll ever understand humans. When things get scary, they just don't think straight. Can't focus on the real problem at hand."

"Like the man with the yellow shirt?" Venus wondered.

"Yeah. Probably freaked out that he was trapped. Probably thought he was smart and thinking ahead by wanting to stock up on supplies, but really, he should've just stayed put and gone for food when he actually needed it," Raph said, finishing a mini-rant.

"Aren't we doing the same thing now?"

Raphael had no comeback to that. He knew that it was just an innocent question from Venus. She was just trying hard to understand his point of view. But her words frightened him for a moment. Out of the pair, it was Raphael who had more street smarts. It was his wits that they were relying on to stay alive and uninfected. But what if his instincts became unreliable? What if he was no better than the man in the yellow shirt? The cold ripple of fright went through his body at the thought. Yet it didn't last long.

The unexpected sound of an engine could be heard in the distance. Jostling a bit to look down the street, the turtles watched as a van fishtailed around a corner and into view, its wheels screeching. It raced down the street, swerving around the numerous zombies that were listlessly moving across the road. "What the shell?" Raph muttered. He ducked his head, slamming the manhole shut as the van drove over. Hearing it pass, Raph lifted his head again to continue watching. Two seconds later it screeched to a halt.

The back door to the van opened and out hopped two men in HAZMAT suits. The infected had already started rushing towards them before they had even emerged. Raphael noted that they seemed slower to move and more disorientated whilst running. One of the crazies collapsed to the ground, muscles shaking, panting for breath. Dehydration had set in.

The two suited men grabbed and tried to subdue the first infected person to reach them. It was petite woman. Yet despite her size, she was completely feral. She swung her arms and legs in a wild manner and was otherwise not making it easy for the two men to drag her into the back of the van. The turtles figured that they must have wanted to use her as a test subject, most likely with the goal in mind to try and find the cause of the infection and therefore a cure.

The muscles in Raphael's legs tensed up, habitually ready to spring into action. He could tell that the scientists' plans were about to be foiled. The turtle would normally step in and intervene in situations like this one, but this time there wasn't anything he could do without endangering himself.

It was only a matter of seconds before the HAZMAT men gained two unwanted members of the crowd. While one scientist continued to try and pull the infected women into the van, the other grabbed what looked like a cattle prod and attempted to keep the other crazies at bay. But two became five, and then the rabid crowd doubled into ten. The scientists were easily outnumbered within a minute. While the cattle prod-looking weapon did shock some of their bodies to the ground for a few moments, the infected didn't seem to have any sense of self-preservation and within an instant they were trying to attack once again. Soon they were so swamped that the scientist couldn't outstretch his arm to use the weapon properly.

The other man completely forgot about trying to capture the petite woman. Now both of them were just focussed on getting away. As the crowd reached twenty, one scientist fell to the ground, pinned by the weight of the bodies pressing and clawing against him. While muffled through the plastic mask, the turtles could hear the man's squeals of terror. The petite woman sat atop his chest, bent over and tried to bite at his shielded face, her teeth clinking against the hard plastic. Another clawed at his legs, desperate to reach the skin. Like a lowly wolf trying to get his share of the meat, a teenage boy snatched an arm and tugged at it violently. The scientist screamed as his shoulder became dislocated. Venus tore her eyes away, not wanting to watch any more. Raphael's gaze, however, remained transfixed on the gruesome action.

Like being mauled by a formidable bear, the infected continued to claw, bite, tug and grasp at the fallen human. Then a rip could be heard. The seam along the scientist's inner thigh was pulled open. As though unwrapping a piece of candy, the infected nearest the man's legs continued to rip the HAZMAT suit open. The scientist screamed and kicked in fear. Another one of the crazies began to tug at the pants the man wore underneath. The skin became exposed. The scientist fell silent. The zombies calmly stood back up. With half a HAZMAT suit still on, the scientist joined them in their infected state of mind.

During that time, the other scientist seemed to have better luck. The infected that were attacking him seemed to be weak and light-headed from dehydration. While he finally managed to succeed in pushing the group back, it was far too late by that time to step in and help his friend. Terrified that if he stayed any longer then he'd suffer the same fate, he scrambled into the van and closed the doors, kicking another zombie back in order to do so. With a driver in the front seat the whole time, two seconds later the van lurched forward. It sped down the street and around the next corner. The infected clumsily chased after it, though they completely forgot about the vehicle as soon as it was out of sight.

"I'm heading down," Venus said. She had seen enough. Raphael shifted his position slightly so she could move underneath and descend the ladder. Giving the street one final glance, Raphael soon followed.

Jumping off the ladder, he found Venus leaning against one of the sewer walls. With her gaze focussed at the ground, she looked rather nauseated. "I forgot how bad it was," Venus muttered when she was certain she wasn't going to vomit.

"Yeah, they're a wild bunch," Raph agreed, rather blasé about it. He suddenly found his difference in attitude rather odd. Raphael pondered the horrible thought that maybe he had grown accustomed to the feral anarchy that reigned up above. The idea of accepting that world frightened him. But there was more to it than that. He recognised Venus' ill gaze as one he once wore himself.

It was ages ago, back when he was fifteen and only just starting to go topside. The Shredder and his Foot ninjas were a formidable enemy, both unrelenting and brutal. Raph remembered the first few corpses he saw; Shredder's gauntlet had ripped long slashes across the belly, intestines spilling out. Whoever they were, Raph and his brothers were a few hours too late to save them. The stench of just the blood was enough to make Raphael queasy. No matter how much Splinter had tried to mentally prepare them for the realities of warfare, there was no protection from the shock of it nonetheless. But the world was a messed up place and so the turtle's experiences didn't get better. Raph had seen one too many casualties of the local mob, their bodies splattered with bullets. During a patrol, he once caught a serial killer in the act of dumping one of the legs of his disembodied victims into a trashcan. Then there were the various monsters and aliens they'd come across and the remains of their prey. All horrible atrocities that no ordinary person would ever see in their lifetime. But the turtles weren't normal – they were ninjas that delved in the art of death, and this was all part of the job. The queasiness was the first to disappear, and then the shock. To Raphael, soon it was all just another day in the wilds of New York.

He found it quite sad to think that he had lost the natural reaction to be squeamish of such things. Raphael took a few moments to realise that Venus had been raised in a different background. As she had fought beside his family for the last few years, it was easy to forget that she wasn't raised as a ninja. She never saw the worst of the Shredder, the mob wars involving the Purple Dragons, or even the few alien invasions. The first corpse she would've encountered was Chung I's. Raphael couldn't imagine how distressing that would've been for her.

While Raph had to admit that seeing zombie-like citizens tearing each other apart was a bit of a novelty, observing Venus' reaction to it all made him realise that he had lost something throughout his teenage years. A type of innocence, if he had to classify it. But it was still alive in Venus and it wasn't until that moment that he realised how much he had missed that part of his own soul. A beautiful, pure emotion that he could no longer access except through her. He couldn't bear the thought of one day seeing her reflect the same numbed attitude he had developed.

Just when she seemed to have recovered, Venus lurched forward and dry heaved. Raphael was beside her in an instant. He held her braided bandanna tails back just in case they got in the way, but there was nothing in her stomach. "Just breathe, Vee," Raph tried to calm her down. She dry heaved again before gaining some control over of her body. "You okay?" Raph asked after a couple of moments.

"Yeah," Venus squeaked in-between breaths.

"We need to think about getting some of that food," Raphael started, hoping the new topic might distract her mind a bit from the scene she'd witnessed topside.

"What was your plan?" Venus asked weakly. Raphael remained silent for a moment as he pondered on how best to describe it. "We're not just running, are we?"

"Well… there is some running…"

"Please tell me you are joking, Raphael," Venus pleaded. Raphael's face didn't hold any hints towards a smile. "Oh no," she groaned to herself.

"Gimme a chance to explain, will ya!" Raph huffed. "Look, I'm gonna be a diversion. All those zombies are gonna be on my tail, and I'll give them a good chase. Meanwhile, you're sneaking into the store and grabbing the food," he summarised.

Venus wasn't impressed.

It was clear that he needed to sell this idea. "Hey, here's something I prepared earlier." Without saying any more, Raph walked to the end of the tunnel and grabbed a few things from around the corner. Venus eyed the largest objects curiously. It seemed that in his free time, Raph had gone down to the docks, scavenged aboard the boats, collected the lids of various tackle boxes and coolers, before then duct taping them all together into one large rectangle. In his other hand he carried a tabletop, complete with its fair share of duct tape as well, along with a separate small anchor and chain.

"I made shields!" Raph said proudly, gesturing to the tabletop with the duct tape straps and his rectangle of assorted plastic lids. "And we've got ourselves a grappling hook," he announced, giving the anchor a little swing.

Venus wasn't impressed.

"Shields?" Venus questioned.

"From what I've seen, you only get infected if they touch you. You know, skin on skin," Raphael explained. His thoughts drifted back to what he had seen earlier today. "You saw it just now. That guy turned as soon as they ripped his suit open."

That wasn't the only proof to his theory. Having observed the possessed crowds over the past few days, he'd seen fleeing men grabbed by the backs of their coats or shirts, only becoming part of mob once they'd been overwhelmed or touched on their bare hands or face. As he thought about it even more, he realised how unfortunate Michelangelo and Leonardo must have been. Mikey didn't get infected because he performed a sweep; it wasn't the move itself that was his downfall. Rather it was because he did it on a guy wearing shorts. Likewise when Leonardo kicked his attacker in the stomach, their t-shirt bunched up, revealing just a sliver of their white belly. If the turtles wore shoes, then Leonardo might have been still with them and possibly even Michelangelo. But it wouldn't have helped Don. As he had run headlong into an infected person, Donatello would've been doomed either way.

"Then why don't we wear suits?" Venus asked. It seemed a much safer solution than trusting the shields Raphael made out of duct tape.

"Well gee, Venus. It's a bit hard to find two suits that fit giant mutated turtles," Raph replied with sarcasm. He was rather disappointed that she wasn't more supportive. Though he had to admit that he hadn't thought of using a suit as an option. And as he thought about it even more, he realised that he did indeed own a few suits. A spacesuit. A dive suit. They may have fit a little tight now, but it would be better than nothing.

Except they were all stored back at the lair…

"Just gonna have to use the shield, Vee," Raph said, giving the one made out of lids a strong few taps to show off his workmanship.

"So where does the anchor come in?" Venus dared to ask.

"Let's walk and talk." Itching to get his plan underway, Raphael put down his things and started to travel down the tunnel, turning the corner. Venus reluctantly followed. While she had never been to this particular part of the sewers before, Venus could tell they were at the intersection closest to the grocery store. She could see the metallic silvery glint of two ladders down the tunnel, each one leading to their own manhole, though they were quite a distance apart. Raphael climbed up the first ladder they came across. She watched as he propped open the manhole cover just an inch before heading back down. It was a practice they did whenever they needed to plan a quick escape back into the sewers as sometimes they wasted precious seconds when trying to lift a tightly closed manhole cover.

"So to distract them, I'll pop up here," Raph started to explain. "Then when I've got their attention, I'll run to this other one." He pointed to the second manhole cover further down the tunnel. She followed him as he travelled to the other ladder, once again observing him as he climbed up and prepared the lid. "Then when I get here, I'll run back up to the first one. Grab their attention, duck back down, run here, distract them, you get the picture. Just keep 'em on their toes".

"And what do I do?"

"Grab the food," Raph answered simply at first. "Just run over there when the coast is clear. Don't bother picking the lock. Just smash through the window and grab whatever food you can," he instructed. "You notice how that store had a second storey?"

Venus nodded, wondering what he was getting at.

"Means there's a residence up there. Should be able to close a few doors behind you. Should slow 'em down. Buy you a few seconds. Go to the window, throw the grappling hook to the building across the street. It's a restaurant. Only one storey. Once the hook's secure, use the chain to climb back over to the manhole. Should only be a short drop. Nothing you haven't done before. Get in the sewers. Done. We eat."

Venus still didn't look impressed.

"What do I have to do to convince you?" Raphael sighed.

Venus gave him a nervous look. "It's not the plan I have trouble with… I just don't want to do this."

Raphael sympathised; he wasn't terribly keen on going topside either. He placed a hand on her shoulder to reassure her. "But we have to, Vee. We just do." He knew she understood. To turn back now would be an agreement to discontinue their plan to rescue everyone while also starving themselves. Didn't make the decision for a grocery run any easier though.

Venus wandered back over to where Raphael had placed the anchor. She picked it up and twirled it in her hands, trying to get used to the weight. "So how do you shoot this?"

"Shoot?" Raphael wondered if this was another one of her lost-in-translation moments. "You just throw it." He watched as she shook her head while she continued to inspect his makeshift grappling hook.

"No, shoot!" she clarified. "Where's the button?"

"Button?"

"The…" she tried to find the word, but failed. "…The button!" Frustration was beginning to surface. She didn't know how to say it any other way. Raphael was confused until he saw her point the anchor like a gun.

"The trigger?"

Her eyes lit up, glad to be understood. "Yes, Raphael. The trigger. Where is it?"

"There is no trigger." It finally dawned on Raph what the problem really was. Never before had he appreciated the small things Donatello did for them, like giving their grappling hooks firing mechanisms. In fact, it had been a while since he had thrown one manually. Of course, that was long before Venus had even met them and joined their unusual family. Watching her fiddle with the anchor in her fingers, Raphael exhaled in horror when he realised that Venus had never thrown a grappling hook before in her life. She wasn't raised as a ninja after all. Her training throughout childhood, while similar in some aspects, differed wildly in others.

Venus relinquished the ninja tool for a few minutes so that Raphael could demonstrate how to use one. But even after allowing Venus to practice for a little while, Raph could see that it wasn't a skill that could be picked up instantly. He knew what needed to be done.

"Maybe I should be the diversion." After another lousy toss, it was Venus who made the obvious suggestion. Raph was just relieved to find out that she was thinking the same way as him. It was a bit of a worry as she wasn't as agile as him, but if their plan had even a chance of success, it was essential that they swapped roles.

Needing her speed, she picked the shield made out of the multiple plastic lids, which was lighter than the tabletop. Raphael equipped himself with the remaining items. Not having much else to discuss, Raph turned towards his starting position but was stopped when Venus grabbed him by the wrist. "Raphael…"

For a second he grumbled and wondered what on earth could be bothering the girl now. So he was shocked when instead of raising a new issue, she leaned in and gave him a kiss. He was surprised by how quickly his annoyance evaporated. For that moment, his mind wasn't thinking about the seemingly a billion possible things that could go wrong with their plan. He was just there, with her.

This kiss was different to all the rest. Their first had been an excitable ball of energy that was finally allowed to release itself after being pent up for years. The next few were an exploration into uncharted territory – enjoying what wonders the new world brought them. But soon it shifted from being a new, experimental sensation into only a stepping-stone to something deeper.

Last night, like those previous, Venus and Raphael slept side by side. Except this time they couldn't resist the novelty of sharing a few goodnight kisses before drifting off to sleep. But like the welcoming slivery top rung of a sewer ladder, the more they persisted, the deeper and darker they descended. The excitement of sharing a kiss quickly gave way to another desire; lust. It was a shock to both of them. Whilst growing up the notion of kissing another was a far-off dream, but now that it had been checked off the bucket list, more intimate possibilities emerged – fantasies that they hadn't dared to indulge in for fear it'll lead only to depression. Last night they both sensed the moment their attitude changed from playfulness to lust, and with some awkwardness they abruptly stopped everything. They even ended up sleeping a few feet apart just in case. Intimacy was a scary tunnel; they had no idea if there was a light at the end.

Which was why this particular kiss was different. It was intimate, but it wasn't about sex. Rather it was an admittance of total dependency. And that was a confession that was slightly scary. Particularly for Raphael. In the past he had a habit of throwing himself into battle, sometimes not even thinking through the potential consequences. Maybe after staring into Death's face numerous times, the threat was no longer worrisome. They were raised as ninja after all. Although it was never said, they expected that one day they'd lose their lives in battle. There were only so many times they could play the odds. Of course, Raphael never wanted to see that happen – to take home the bleeding, limp body of one of his brothers was a recurring nightmare for him. Yet he didn't treat his own life so preciously. He figured that if he was dead, then what did it matter? There'd be no grief, no pain, no need for revenge or the struggle to go on living. Just death. So he'd throw himself headlong into every battle as though it was his last.

But not today. Venus cared about him in a way that nobody else did. She valued him so much that for her sake he wanted to come back alive. He wasn't living a seemingly meaningless mutant existence any more – no – there was a silvery glint of a future.

With her.

It was difficult to part. Just one mistake up on the surface would cost them all of their plans. But every moment eventually ends and passes to another. With fear gnawing on the insides of their plastrons, they took up their stations; Venus at the manhole in the middle of the nearest intersection, and Raphael bunkered down under the sewer cover across the street from their convenience store target.

With his head carrying the weight of the grooved metal piece once more, Raphael's eyes peered down the length of the street. He waited for her signal. The surface of the road popped suddenly – Venus was getting ready to run. Raph's legs braced the rungs of the ladder, his toes curling around the cold steel, almost replicating the movement and sensation he felt in his stomach.

He could hear the sharp metal scrape of the lid against the tarred road, even from his position. Venus scrambled topside, shield at the ready. She was fast, though as a sewer veteran Raphael could see her clumsiness. The bedraggled mindless humans in the area were quick to notice her. They lumbered down the street as planned, their feet slapping on the concrete with no sense of coordinated rhythm. She had to dodge one that was on the way to her destination. But she stayed calm. She was in control. Raph, feeling like he was experiencing every little step, twist and turn with her, breathed a sigh of relief. She cleared out the street. The plan was working. But Raph was glad they didn't try this any earlier – if the infected citizens weren't so dehydrated, then Venus may have eventually run herself into trouble.

With the female turtle well and truly down the street, Raphael sprung out from the sewers. Long, quiet strides, using mostly the balls of his feet. Two seconds and he was already there; the large display window of the convenience store. He didn't stop his run. Instead he raised his shield and ploughed through the glass. It didn't shatter evenly and Raphael found himself toppling through, shoulder heavy. His feet bounced and skirted around where he thought the shards had landed whilst also regaining his balance. He didn't know if the zombies would be attracted to the sound of his entrance, despite Venus' visual distraction. So he needed to be quick. He needed all his focus.

Food.

But what food? Something that would keep. He could smell the rotting fruit near his homemade entrance. Canned food? That'd be his safest bet. He lurched towards the aisle, then stopped and swore. He hadn't thought this part of the plan through. Normally when they went shopping they wore a trench coat… one with pockets. He swivelled and ran back towards the entrance, snatching a basket. He shoved the duct tape straps of the wooden shield further up his arm so his hand was completely free to carry the food. His other free hand hovered over the handle of his sai out of habit.

His instincts were right.

As though he could sense the impending danger, at that moment two of the infected clambered through the turtle-sized hole, slicing themselves open on the glass. Their motivation to attack Raph was greater than the pain. He watched as the blood washed down their arms and dribbled through their fingertips. They didn't mind at all. Raph forgot about his sai. He didn't want to get near enough to even use his shield. His mind transported back to when he was six years old, in one of his first ninjutsu lessons with Splinter. Rule number one of combat – if you can, RUN.

He scrambled down the perimeter of the shop – the frozen food aisle. The zombies hungrily followed, their shoes skidding on their own blood. Raph opened a fridge, grabbed two frozen bags of vegetables, tossed one in his basket and one at his enemies. Head shot. The zombie was stunned for a second, then kept coming. The sound of glass crunching alerted the turtle. More were coming inside. He ran around to the next aisle, the first two zombies now close behind. Pet food section. Even if he wanted to, going down that row would've meant meeting the new three zombies at the other end. No choice but to turn around.

He slammed his shield hard against one pursuer. The force knocked them backwards; head to the ground, feet to the sky. No doubt a streak of blood would be stained on Raph's portable tabletop. The guy Raph had pegged earlier with the frozen produce was right behind, stumbling over his infected friend. The lumbering footsteps of the other three zombies could be heard.

Raphael was quick to move. He tried his best to stay calm. He needed a weapon. A sai wouldn't do. It didn't create enough distance. Projectiles? Frozen meat? Didn't stop the zombies long enough. Trolley? Accidentally get the one with the wonky wheel and you'd never control it in time. Raphael mindlessly grabbed a random packet of something from a shelf and threw it into the basket. He was there to shop, after all.

Stationary aisle. No food, but possibly something for defence. He scooted down the row. He remembered an incident, a few years back, when he had been sent to the local corner store to buy some milk. He couldn't believe it – the first instance he had ever left his sai at home was the one time when he was present during the beginning of a robbery. The thief held a machete against the store clerk's neck. Raph, not willing to stand back, grabbed a nearby newspaper and rolled it up into a baton. Master Splinter had always encouraged his ninjas to improvise. Using the newspaper like a sword and his plastic bottle of milk to create some blunt force trauma, he managed to push the robber back into a corner before subduing him with a lovely fist to the face. The store clerk was beyond ecstatic; begging Raphael to stay back to wait for the cops so he could get all the credit he deserved. But being a mutant, Raph couldn't stay. The clerk, although confused, respected his humbleness but couldn't bear the thought of Raphael not being repaid in some way. Raphael gained two things in that trip – the knowledge that he can whack someone pretty hard with a newspaper, and free milk for as long as the clerk worked there.

There were no newspapers in the aisle – they were at the front of the store. However there were school exercise books. Raph quickly rolled one up, though it was hard with one arm supporting both a shield and basket. He was so focussed on it that he was surprised how close a zombie was behind him. Raph swivelled, jammed the end of the rolled up booklet under their chin, and then slammed their body with the shield. They landed on their back, sliding a few feet. That was too close. Raphael continued to run, though he didn't like his new weapon. It was still too short for his liking.

But then there was the cleaning aisle. Raphael had never been so happy to stroll down it. He grinned. There, hanging off a rack, was the ultimate of all improvised supermarket weapons. The mop. He grabbed it and gave it a twirl amongst his three stubby fingers, getting used to its unbalanced weight. The bo was the first weapon they were ever taught, followed then by the bokken. Raphael never understood why Donatello decided to specialise in the bo considering how simplistic it was, that was until Raph thrust the blunt end into a zombie's sternum from three feet away. He whipped it around and whacked another in the head, bringing them crashing to the floor. The power, the distance – it felt fantastic! Now Raphael understood the intelligence behind Donatello's decision; sometimes getting up close and personal was just too suicidal.

Weapon in hand and with most adversaries temporarily grounded, Raphael rushed to complete his shopping. Canned pineapple, baked beans, packet of chips, loaf of bread, and raw chicken – what's salmonella to a giant turtle, anyway? Now was the tricky part. He had to be quick. And lucky. He scanned the back wall and found some double doors. He raced over, his bare feet slapping frantically on the tiles as he pushed through the staff exit. Behind was the storeroom. Aisle after aisle of boxes, some almost reaching to the ceiling. He was surprised for a moment. It looked like a rather small supermarket out front; its appearance deceived its depth.

A sharp thud was heard. Then the clicking of the staff door's latch as it was banged open and close. With a giant push, an infected made it through with two of his other buddies close behind. The ones that had cut themselves on the glass earlier were now nowhere to be seen. Probably bled out on the supermarket floor. Raph would normally take some pity, especially since these were just ordinary people in circumstances out of their control, but he didn't have time. The chase resumed.

Raphael jumped up the steel-framed shelves as the zombies lumbered forward. He struggled. With a shield and basket taking up one hand, he used his other for support, though it too was now also holding the mop. But he was strong. With a free finger he dragged a box off the shelf, allowing it to fall below. It smacked a zombie right in the face. There was a splattering of blood as their nose broke. They staggered for a few seconds and then collapsed onto ground. A knock out. Pushing and pulling the boxes, Raphael dived through to the other side of the shelving unit. The infected, too stupid to go around, continued to grope mindlessly above them where they last saw the mutant turtle.

Raphael grunted in effort as he jumped from one shelving unit to the next, not really wanting to travel along the ground. Four rows along and he spotted a door to one side. 'Private. Keep Out' its label read. He leapt off and sprinted towards the door, once again bracing his shoulder behind his shield ready to barge it down. He bashed into it hard; a screw or two from the hinges flying off and clattering as they landed on the concrete floor in the distance. Raph yanked on the handle, pulling the door and twisting off the last points of where it was attached to the frame, allowing it all to crash to one side. But then there was a second thud. Then another. Raphael could sense the two infected closing in behind him.

The turtle rushed through the gaping doorway and up a flight of stairs. A scream was heard, followed with a frantic bout of commotion. Raph paused at the top of the stairs. There was a man and his wife. They were obviously the owners of the flat above the supermarket. The woman cowered behind her husband while he nervously pointed a shotgun towards the turtle. For a moment Raphael thought he was a goner, but then he saw the look of shock and hesitation in the man's eyes. The turtle utilised that moment, whipped the mop forward and harshly whacked the shotgun out of his hands. The man howled in pain and clutched his wrist – Raph didn't go gentle. There was no time. The infected were only three steps behind.

Raph jousted forward, fighting to get past the two bodies frozen in fright in front of him. His feet thudded along the carpet as he hurriedly searched for a window. He felt his blood get sharply sucked back into his heart when he heard the screams of the husband and wife. Terror into pain, before falling silent. Now there were four infected on his tail. He didn't have time to regret his actions, or feel sorry for the unfortunate couple. In fact he felt grateful that they bought him another few seconds.

He ran through the flat. Kitchen. Past the bathroom. Into the master bedroom. There along the wall were the windows that looked out onto the street. Raph quickly slammed the door shut and slid across the bedside table. He needed as much time as possible now. Rushing to the window, his heart pumped with excitement when he saw the manhole cover in the street below. He shoved the window open and ripped off his cumbersome shield. He'd have to go without it from now on. Taking out the anchor from his belt, Raphael eyed the roof of the restaurant across the street with determination. He had to get this toss right. When he heard the zombies scrape against the bedroom door, he doubted whether he'd get the chance to gather up the anchor and chain again should he miss the first shot.

He breathed out in order to focus. He wished he'd practised. The anchor, although small and attached to the most lightweight chain he could find, still felt rather heavy in his hands. But he had to rely on his reptilian strength. If he were human, this throw would be impossible. But a mutant turtle with ten times the muscle power? He was about to find out. Raph leaned out the window as far as he could. Holding the chain, he swung the anchor in circles; slow at first then building up speed. His eyes locked onto a gap in the rooftop's tiling. One more swing with power and intention. Then he released his grip. The anchor soared through the air. It looked good. But then it kept going. Raph couldn't believe it – it seemed he overcompensated. Now it was travelling too far. The anchor clunked and clattered a few feet above his target before coming to a stop. But at least it was on the roof. Carefully Raph reeled it in. Little by little. He needed to be delicate.

But the bedroom door wasn't going to hold. The skid noises of desperate, sweaty hands groping against the surface of the wood grated the turtle's nerves. He was terrified of the thudding of hungry bodies just waiting to burst through and corrupt him. Just another pull. Another tug on the chain. The anchor's hook was drawn into the hole thanks to Raph's expert precision. The chain became taut. Raph wrapped his end around the bedpost. He frantically placed the handle of the food basket in his mouth, gripping it with his teeth. He thought about climbing along the chain with his hands, but when the infected burst through the door, he found himself instinctively grabbing the mop. Yet he didn't fight. He jumped out the window, held the mop above his head and flipped it over the chain, using it like a zipline. Thankfully the mop didn't snap in half when it felt the full force of his weight. Raphael speedily glided across the street, over some onlooking zombies and swiftly leapt off right beside the sewer entrance. He didn't give the infected a chance to react. Like he had been trained to do for years, he disappeared down the hole, quickly replacing the lid. Safe at last.

But it wasn't over. He clambered down the ladder, threw down the mop at the bottom and removed the basket of food from his clenched teeth. The tunnel was empty. Raph panicked. "Venus!" he cried out. He ran down the tunnel and turned the corner into the next. He feared the worst. His mind raced and with terror came to the conclusion that the reason why some of the infected had entered the supermarket in the first place was because Venus had failed. He hadn't seen her from the window…

"Venus!" Raphael screamed again. He heard movement. The light shifted on the ladder furthest from him. He froze for a moment, knowing that someone was climbing down. There was foot, a shin, and then a shell. "Venus!" Raphael called out in relief.

"Raph!" was the excited reply. She was all right! Raphael was ecstatic! He found himself running over to her, ready to greet the turtle as soon as she finished her descent. Venus wrapped her arms around him the first chance she had. "Raphael!" she cheerfully chimed.

Raph brought her into a tight hug, lifted her up off her feet and gave her an excited swing. "We did it!" He exclaimed. "We did it!" Raph couldn't believe it. Venus just grinned back at him. It was the happiest she'd been in days. Raphael was just delighted to see her face again. Long gone was the unbearable thought that he could possibly be left alone in this madness-driven world. They embraced each other till their excitement calmed and their nerves relaxed, just comforted to know they were once again holding everything they had left.


	7. Yin and Yang

Chapter 7: Yin and Yang

_13__th__ October 2000_

Venus breathed out steadily, clearing her mind. She focussed. She visualised a little ball of light deep within the recesses of her spirit. It expanded and contracted with each breath. There was a colour to it. Today it was aqua. She pictured it turning into a wave, washing from her pit of her stomach to the back, travelling up the spine, then stopping for a moment at the pinnacle of her forehead. With a release of breath the wave crashed down, splashing across the face and along the arms, receding back into the stomach from whence it came, only to start the journey again.

This exercise was repeated over and over, creating a sense of calmness in Venus' soul. She identified this light as yin, but where was the yang? Venus tried to keep the movement of yin racing around her body while she mentally tried to hunt down whatever essence of yang was sheltered inside. Deeper and deeper into her soul she went, until there was just a pinprick of another light source. She tried to extract it – to cultivate it and make it grow bigger, but the yin still flowing like a wave around her body became unstable, crashing upon every inch of her body like a battering wall of water against the rocky shore. It surged up along the spine, peaking the head, then smashed downwards, sending Venus' eyes flying open.

Concentration broken.

Raphael was just sitting patiently a few feet away. While everything Venus experienced was in her mind's eye, he could tell by her ragged breaths that she had failed once again. He gave her a moment to regain her senses, though he knew it was time for her to take another break. He shuffled over so he could sit beside her.

"Did you get close?"

"It was better this time. I think I got impatient," Venus reported. Raphael gave her a playful nudge with his elbow.

"Been hanging out too long with me," Raph said. They were both just trying to keep things light and happy. It dawned on them a few hours ago that their chances of success were getting slimmer and slimmer. To admit it would be to kill all hope for their situation and the fate of those topside. So they chose to live in this world of empty words and impossible dreams, though they were beginning to wonder how long they could keep fooling themselves.

"That's not necessarily a bad thing," Venus said, giving him a nudge back. Raph couldn't hold back his smile.

"True. Without me you wouldn't have learnt the art of mop fighting," said Raph, referring to what they did the last time Venus took a break from meditating.

"And you would never have learnt the art of mopping," Venus playfully retorted. She remembered Raphael showing off his newly found skills with a mop. Whilst she found it entertaining and even gave it a twirl herself, Venus couldn't help but wonder how far she could push Raph's pride. So she put him to the test and requested that he mop the floor. Somehow it managed to escalate into a mopping competition. Venus won, not that Raph would ever concede defeat, though he did learn some invaluable grime-removal tips along the way.

Raphael also remembered the incident. "You remind me of Mikey," he said. Venus didn't make the mental connection.

"What has Michelangelo got to do with mops?"

Raph almost snorted in laughter at her misunderstanding. Her confusion grew even more. "Nothing, nothing," he laughed. "No, just… Mikey has a way of turning a really boring situation interestin'. I mean, as annoying as that shell-for-brains is, if you're captured and stuck in a jail cell, four walls and no windows, you'd wanna get stuck with him."

"You find me annoying?" Venus raised an eye-ridge. She was just teasing him now. She liked hearing him back peddle a response.

"No, I mean…" He didn't really know how to word what he meant. Venus smiled. "We've just been sitting here all day; you with your eyes closed. And yet… I still find you interestin'." He wasn't the master of eloquence, but nevertheless Venus was rather enamoured by what he had just admitted.

She didn't know how to respond. Venus just gazed at the space further on from her outstretched feet, simply enjoying this moment with Raphael by her side. The male turtle cheekily tapped his foot against hers. She tapped back. Raph repeated the action, then Venus gave his foot a bit of a shove. Taking it as a challenge, Raphael lifted his foot and tried to pin down hers. Venus grunted in effort behind her smile as she wiggled her foot as much as possible, but soon needed her other foot to come in for backup. Now the foot-wrestling match was on, with all four feet in and grins wide on both the turtles' faces.

But Raphael's smile suddenly faded, as though a single thought stole every ounce of joy in the moment, bundled it up and escaped through an exhale of breath. Venus watched with apprehension when he abruptly left the game; standing up and taking a few steps away. Living with him for three years, she knew Raphael was prone to sudden mood swings, and whilst confused as to what brought about this one, she knew to at least prepare herself for whatever was coming next.

"This isn't right," Raphael muttered.

"Raph?" She didn't understand.

"Here we are playing bloody _footsies_ when Mikey, Donnie and Leo are up there dying!"

Venus didn't have anything for him. She knew he was right. Though she was the type to let things go unsaid, she now realised how foolish it was to believe that Raphael would follow the same rules. Raphael was always the one to voice his concern if a plan didn't add up or if someone's intentions didn't make sense. She solemnly realised that Raph had merely been patient with her, and now he needed release. The illusion that everything was still okay was over.

"What are we doing, Vee? What are we doing?" He began rhetorically. He took her silence as an invitation to continue. "It ain't right. This ain't right. To just be mucking around…"

"The plan we have – it just takes time…" The level of hope Venus still had died off along with her voice. She just liked the sound of the lie.

"There is no time!" Raph grunted. Painful memories, ones that he'd been bottling up over the past few days, suddenly resurfaced in his mind. He balled his fists up as a way to control his undercurrent of anger. "Everyone's dying, Venus. Everyone."

She remained silent. It wasn't news to her. She knew it too, though she didn't like to dwell on it.

"You saw 'em. Collapsing in the street. Muscles shakin'! Too stupid to look after themselves. If they don't die of hunger, then thirst will get 'em by the end of the week!" Raph gritted his teeth. He knew he had a habit of labelling the crazy masses as zombies, but the term was incorrect. As horrifying as true zombies would be, he'd seen the infected citizens of New York go through so much suffering that he questioned which was really worse. "So messed up…" he muttered. "I wouldn't care if it was a Dragon or a Foot Ninja, but these are just ordinary people. Regular Joe Blows getting a bad lot in life." Then a surge of anguish rose up from the pits of his stomach, settling as a lump in his throat. "Just like Mikey, Don, Leo… They're gonna die! And we're doin' nothing!" He raised his voice on the last part, getting more emotional by the second. Venus didn't blame him, though he frightened her with how volatile he was becoming.

Venus stood up, no longer comfortable sitting down. She wanted to say something reassuring, something to calm him down. But all she managed to utter was, "Raphael…"

"I can't just sit here and do nothing any more! I just can't!"

"So you're going to go up there? Get infected?" With Raphael raising his voice, Venus couldn't resist matching his intensity. It wasn't a smart move – it would only make him rant more, though it felt good to argue back.

Raphael snarled. She was right. He couldn't go topside. That would be stupid and pointless. But he couldn't just stay here. He bellowed a scream of frustration and punched the wall. Venus flinched at the gesture.

The anger washed through him again, causing him to throw a little fit, kicking his feet slightly and flailing his hands. Yet he soon came to a point of stillness. Venus mistook it for calmness. "We can get through this…" She wanted to believe that, she really did. But she feared her words were now empty. Raph's instincts picked up on that.

"We won't…" came his sullen reply.

"Raph-"

"You haven't seen what I've seen!" he yelled at her. She shut up in submission, not daring to interrupt him now. It was clear he needed to unload a heavy burden. "You haven't seen the army ships in the harbour. The fighter jets flying overhead. I dunno what they're planning, but I bet it ain't good."

Venus could fill in the gaps. The army were no doubt monitoring the situation. But the humans were looking in the wrong places for answers. It was a spiritual infection – not something that could be studied and resolved scientifically. Either they'd wait too long and most people would die from dehydration, or they'd purge the infected, or worst case scenario – purge the city. For a moment she curiously wondered how far the infection spread. No doubt the state of New York had been overcome in the space of a day. How long till it spread across America? Travel over the borders? Along into South America? Was it even the US military in New York's harbour, or had another nation taken advantage of the country's feeble state? To her horror she realised that she'd been so focussed on herself and her own spiritual battles that she forgot the rest of the world still kept moving.

"And that's not it," Raph continued his tirade. "Ain't just humans. Saw a crazy go after a cat at the docks two days ago. Got it cornered. Now there's a bloody infected cat running around up there. What if it gets a rat? And that rat gets another? And another? There's more rats than humans in this city," Raph muttered. A cold chill blasted through Venus' veins. They saw sewer rats on a regular basis. Their safety net of living underground no longer existed. "We'll get infected. One way or another," Raph pessimistically reasoned. "…Or blown up," he added.

"Why didn't you tell me this?"

"Because I didn't want you to worry!" Raph snapped back. It came out harsher than he intended. "You have enough on your mind! I don't want to add stuff to it! It's already goin' to take forever and a day for you to clear it." As soon as he said it, he wished he could take back the last sentence. Venus immediately took offence. Raph foolishly tried to justify what he just said. "You just, you can't handle this stuff. You're not like me. You're not a ninja!"

"You're right. I'm not. But I'm a Shinobi that's fought by you every day since I've met you!" She spat. He'd hit a raw nerve. She hated the idea of being treated differently, believing it was solely because she was the opposite gender. Venus didn't spend her entire life studying the Internal Arts, travelling to America to avenge her master, and working hard to fit in with her new family only to be told to sit in the corner whilst the boys did everything. She loathed being belittled.

"Shinobi. You keep using that word. But I don't think it means what you think it means." Raphael's smart-aleck reply was practically automatic, carved into his personality after years of enduring the taunts of brotherhood. Venus was furious. To tease her about her cultural differences in a moment like this was just in poor taste. Raphael paused for a moment, almost in disbelief by what he'd just said without thinking. His mind cast back to how this all started.

"What are we doing?" he whispered, barely audible. Raphael found himself asking his original question again. As pressing as the matters of the world were, he discovered that in this very moment, he was destroying the one thing he had left; breaking the hopes of the one person that kept giving him a reason to live. Staring at Venus' loathsome stare, his anger was quickly replaced by sadness.

What was he doing?

It was as though he stepped back to take a look at the scene before him. Sure, he could piss and moan about how useless and futile everything was for a few more hours. But what would that achieve in the long run? Venus; the only female in the world that made him feel loved, forced to hate him thanks to his almost masochistic desire to always win an argument. He didn't want that – it was just a path to self-loathing.

It tapped into a hard truth that Raphael knew about himself, though he'd never admit it to anyone. A personality flaw that he hadn't figured out how to circumvent, he'd speak harsh words and cut others down, despite originally having the best intentions. He was ashamed by how his family would describe him. 'Hot-head Raph' or 'Lunatic'. Then there were the warnings: 'quit teasing him or he'll snap', 'Raph doesn't play nice' and the classic, 'he's gonna lose it'. It was how he was known – his anger was what defined him. And he hated it.

But there were so many times when he knew he was entering into that dark mode of his personality; he was aware that he was going too far, and yet he just couldn't stop from falling into the bottomless pit that was dispute. And he'd see it on his loved one's faces. That moment where he'd prick a chunk of their heart. When the argument turned from brotherly fun to just plain insulting. Sometimes he cursed his insightfulness; when combined with his uncontrollable spiteful tongue, he became his own worst enemy. But while in the moment he'd enjoy the taste of victory, it was a rotten win that he'd quickly regret afterwards.

He could never understand why he couldn't just stop. Particularly when it came to Leo. Maybe because Leo was just as stubborn and unwilling to back down, but Raph always managed to take their disagreements too far, scarring their friendship at times. He loathed that he'd take pleasure in verbally stripping down his leader as though Leonardo was no better than the grime on the sewer walls, and part of Raph was scared to admit that maybe he was just a sadistic guy that enjoyed hurting others. But he couldn't be that – it didn't make sense. He loved Leo. To die for him would be an honour. There were so many times Raph had wondered what was wrong with himself? Why did he hurt the ones he loved so much?

What was he doing?

It gutted him to see that he'd made the same mistake and gone too far with his quarrel with Venus. She knew as well as anybody else about his tendency to explode into a rather primal fuming reptile, but for whatever reason she was willing to stick by him to the end. Unlike the rest of the household who forgave him due to their unconditional familial ties, Venus' love and affection was something that could be gained and therefore lost. She voluntarily chose to be in a romantic relationship with him – a concept almost inconceivable to Raph considering that he didn't even love himself. He had the deepest respect for Venus because of this.

So what was he doing?

It was as though he stripped back all the little separate issues and with extreme clarity saw what was really underneath. The world was a mess. That was a fact. But there was nothing to be done. Nothing that wasn't completely suicidal at any rate. Admitting it to himself resulted in a wash of relief. With the heavy external distraction finally ignored, he came to focus just on what he could control – his interactions and bond with Venus. Apart from his current health, that was all he had left. Just her.

His tense, flustered muscles softened and his snarl disappeared. Then the next emotion rolled in – a surge of adoration for the female turtle standing across from him. He didn't want to think about the world any more. He just wanted to be with her. So he took hold of that lofty feeling like an unruly kite in a gust of wind and advanced toward her. Raph sorrowfully wrapped his arms around her smaller frame and brought her into a kiss.

Of course, while Venus did manage to observe an emotional change in Raph over the last few seconds, she didn't go on the same mental journey. She was still livid over his last comment.

She shoved him back, tearing him away from her lips.

As he staggered back, Venus was once again confused about Raph's sudden change in mood. Then she looked into his eyes. Venus instantly regretted her actions. She had hurt him, badly.

Venus remembered the look in Raph's eyes after he had spoken to Splinter a few days ago on the phone. There was apprehension and fear mixed in with his directionless gaze. But the one thing that remained was determination. It was one of his strongest traits, dripping down into the very core of his being. If anyone in the clan was captured, Raphael's first instinct was to find them no matter the means. It was difficult to keep him in the lair long enough to come up with a rescue plan – many times he was willing to search the city of New York building by building, floor by floor and room by room until they were found, no matter how utterly impractical that was. Even the last few days when everything seemed completely hopeless, Raph still had that look of determination in his eyes.

But now it had disappeared. It was as though he'd finally given up. There was nothing for him anymore. If she rejected him now, it looked like Raph would just wander away aimlessly, looking for a quiet place to die. His despondent expression terrified her.

Like Raphael, Venus put aside their argument and the problems of the world and focussed merely on the moment and the relationship between them. She was surprised by how strong her instincts became – if he left the room, Venus didn't know if she could go on without him. And so it was simple – they needed each other. Yet it was so much more than that. The way Raph had just kissed her… she knew what he wanted. Venus had been pushing aside her growing feelings for him over the past few days so she could focus on saving the world, but now that everything seemed hopeless, she just wanted to become submerged in the emotion of love. The terror, the constant worrying, the burden; she just wanted to lose herself, to forget about everything for just a moment. Being trapped with Raphael was the only joyful thing to come out of this horrible nightmare, and maybe, just maybe if she indulged in it, the rest of the world and its problems would just disappear.

Still feeling the heavy weight of rejection, Raphael turned to leave. He had no idea where he'd go, though he knew he couldn't stay. Raph took a step…

"Raphael…"

It was her sweet voice. He turned back to find her standing beside him. Venus grabbed his hand. She looked frightened. In an instant he knew his place was with her. Venus quickly wrapped her arms around his neck, terrified of him taking another step. "Be with me," she breathlessly voiced before kissing him. Raph was amazed at how wonderful he felt in that moment. He now knew there had been no misunderstanding between them – they had both reached the same conclusion that all mattered in the world was each other. To focus on any else was depressing and meaningless. This was the last thing that they could control, and nobody - no dragon, human or otherwise - could take it away from them.

As she passionately kissed him, a small tear ran down Venus' face. She wanted him. There was no doubt in her mind. But she always imagined that her first time would be one of joy, not something born from utter despair. She cried because there was nothing else left to do. Whatever they were about to experience would contain the last ounce of happiness remaining in their lives. It made no sense to wait any longer.

Raphael continued to kiss her while his arms wrapped around her small body, his infatuated hands running down the sides of her carapace feeling every groove. Venus' hands also dropped and their bodies moved closer together. Her hands feverishly travelled down the middle seam of his plastron and stopped when they reached his belt buckle. With a quick pull and a tug Raphael's belt tumbled off, his sai clattering on the floor. Raph didn't know if it was a symbolic gesture or if Venus simply didn't want the weaponry to get in the way, but either way it was clear where Venus' intentions lay. Likewise, engulfed in the passion they shared, Raph hurriedly raised a hand and slid Venus' bandanna off. They continued to kiss, infatuated, almost forcing themselves to not stop or otherwise remember the world in chaos around them. Not wanting to even break their feverish embrace, they rather awkwardly descended to the floor, Raphael finding himself on top of her. He broke off a kiss long enough to stare into Venus' eyes.

He stopped.

Raphael continued to look into her eyes while she returned the same gaze. They could feel their hearts slow down, their breathing becoming less erratic. The crazy, almost uncontrollable emotion of infatuation had dissipated, only to be replaced with something more serious. It took a while for Raphael to pinpoint what the feeling was.

He felt naked.

It struck him as odd that he'd never felt that way before. It wasn't as though their belts and bandannas covered much, and there wasn't anything to see regardless. Of course, there was their tails, which Master Splinter ordered them to get into the habit of tucking along the rim of their shells so that it didn't get in the way during combat. After all, unlike Splinter who could use his tail as a fifth appendage, the turtles' weren't long enough, and it was just something extra an enemy could target if left unprotected. But even then, Raphael didn't feel any different if someone saw his tail, much the same that he didn't care if someone saw his toe, knee or fist. Venus was the same. Nudity was an inconceivable subject for the turtles. They heard about it on television shows and movies. Michelangelo once boldly asked April what being naked meant. She simply responded that it meant having no clothes, and after a bit more thought, she added that there was a feeling of embarrassment involved. Even with that explanation, the turtles just could not relate. But after staring into Venus' eyes, Raphael came to realise that nakedness wasn't merely about the presence of clothes – that was just something that caused it.

Rather, nakedness was really the feeling of vulnerability.

A string of terror entered Raph's soul when he came to that conclusion. He'd never felt so vulnerable in his entire life. There had been times where he'd been captured by the enemy, stripped of his weapons and accessories and tied to some sort of furniture for interrogation. He'd felt threatened, somewhat defenceless, but never naked. For in those situations he knew that the other person would never have all of him.

Yet the feeling of nakedness came with the idea that there was nowhere to hide. As the male and female turtle looked into each other's eyes, they realised that what they were about to do was either going to be the most treasured moment of their lives, or it was going to be the most emotionally damaging event they'd ever experience. The result of which was entirely dependent on the other reptile. They both felt utterly vulnerable.

Whatever boldness Venus had before was now gone. She hesitated, then timidly raised a hand to touch Raphael's cheek. With her touch, the fear in both of them drifted away. They still felt vulnerable and rather nervous, but the trust they shared with each other was strong enough to override their concerns. Venus gently lifted both arms and her hands grabbed the ends of Raphael's bandanna, one tail in each. Slowly she reined his head down, their lips connecting once more. The kiss sealed their consent. Raphael began.

_14__th__ October, 2000_

Venus opened her eyes. As her vision came into focus so did the ambient noises of the groans and screams of those suffering on the surface. Every now and then they'd hear them, the sound of their pain carried along the drafts in the sewers. They always sounded closer than what they were, and the more days that passed, the louder they became. But even though there was no danger, the problems of the world flooded back to Venus. Her respite was over.

She drew some comfort in the warmth of Raphael's body. He lay beside her in a light slumber with an arm and a leg still draped over her. She soaked in whatever feeling of contentment still remained, though a persistent thought niggled the back of her brain. She felt different somehow. She didn't know why. Venus found herself thinking about her meditation exercise and the urge to suddenly try it again emerged. One more time, she figured. Eager to investigate this instinct of hers, she moved to the opposite end of the room to assume her pose of meditation, stirring Raphael from his sleep in the process. She crossed her legs and rested her arms. With eyes closed she focussed on her breath and the ball of energy housed within her soul.

While Venus mentally tried to reach enlightenment, Raphael meanwhile was simply dumbfounded by the thought that he'd just had sex.

"I did it." Raphael barely heard Venus' words through his stupor.

"Huh?"

"I did it!" She sounded surprised.

Raphael sat up to look at her and his eyes opened wide. In her left hand was a glowing, swirling ball of white light, whilst her right contained a sphere of darkness. He watched as the shinobi shaman brought her hands together, melding the two energies into one. The different lights spun around each other before forming the ying and yang seal. As soon as Raph saw it, it was gone, thumping back into Venus' body, right into her chest.

"Did it work?"

Venus closed her eyes and assessed the situation. A brilliant smile appeared across her face. "Yes! I can sense both yin and yang!"

Raphael pounced to his feet. "What now?" His mind raced; even though they had planned for this, Raphael didn't honestly believe he'd ever see this moment. He felt uneasy, as though he'd been caught off guard.

"We'll go back to the city and find the skull."

"Now?"

"Yes, we must. I don't know how long I can keep both energies balanced perfectly inside of me."

What she just said worried Raph. He hated the idea that Venus' stunt could mean doom for them at any moment, no doubt at the worst possible time. But he didn't want to waste precious seconds questioning her. In an instant Raphael picked up his belt and buckled it back up, along with tossing Venus' bandanna back to her. He also grabbed the mop. Absurdly he'd grown attached to it.

Venus eyed the improvised weapon in his hands. "Raphael. You will need to always be in contact with me." Venus extended her hand. "I'm now immune, and you will be covered too. But if you let go of me, even for a moment, and someone who's infected touches you…"

"I ain't letting go," Raph understood, grabbing her hand with his. He didn't wait another moment. Raphael took charge and lead Venus down the tunnel, thankful that he no longer needed to stay in their concrete safe house. Venus followed, constantly focussed on her chi energy as they travelled.

After many twists and turns, the sewer tunnels came to an end. A storm grate was all that stood between them and the Hudson. In amongst the criss-cross of metal bars was a gate no doubt for maintenance workers. Venus could tell that it used to be locked with a chain and a padlock, but since Raphael had frequented this area a lot over the past few days, he'd already cracked the water-rusted lock open with his sai. The chain hung limply across the bars, only there to loosely give the impression that the gate was still sealed shut. Raphael quickly chucked the clinking metal aside and pulled Venus outside and into the Hudson.

It was low tide, and although the ground underfoot was still slippery, the water level didn't go past their waist. It was colder than Venus had remembered. Thankfully Raphael didn't intend on swimming across again.

Just a few feet along were the start of the docks. The dark-wooded piers jutted out into the river, their support beams covered with a blanket of seaweed and oysters. Taking care where they stepped, not wanting to cut their feet open, they eventually came across a set of stairs carved into the rock. Raphael slowly pulled Venus upwards, cautious of who they might meet on street level. The turtle crouched slightly when he spotted an infected at the end of the street behind them. Too late. They'd been seen.

Raphael urgently tugged Venus along, running down the street towards where the boats were kept. The infected was stumbling and rather slow, but it was always best to keep as much distance as possible between them. Even if they were immune, Raphael just didn't want to tangle with the crazy man.

They descended down another set of stone stairs leading to a dock where a number of fishing boats had been moored. At the very end was a metal dinghy with a simple engine attached to the stern. Looking easy to operate, Venus figured that this was the one Raphael had chosen. Raph didn't bother going down the ladder – he just jumped straight into the hull, Venus following. He regretted it when the force of their impact made the boat take on a bit of water, but Raph was in a hurry. He let go of Venus for a moment so he could pump the engine. After a few pulls of the string, the little boat roared to life. Venus noticed that another can of fuel sat next to the engine – she was proud of how much Raphael had planned in his free time.

Raphael cut the boat loose and only just in time. The infected man peered over the dock, eyeing them hungrily. As the boat sped out into deeper waters, the two turtles watched as the man jumped into the river regardless, hopelessly chasing after them. He floundered in the water, either not having the strength to swim or the knowledge of which was suppressed by the infection. After a minute they could no longer see him.

With Raphael manning the boat, Venus took the time to relax slightly. Being held captive underground for the past few days, she had lost track of time. It was daybreak. A soft mist has settled across the river. She couldn't see that far and could only make out the tops of the bridges. But no doubt there were other ships in the harbour – ones filled with military personnel as Raphael had said. Every so often she thought she eyed the shadow of an aircraft carrier off in the distance. Venus soon became thankful of the mist – like the ninjas they were, they could keep hidden.

Seeing the shoreline come into view, Raphael slowed the engine to a purr. There was no beach, rather just a concrete wall; a sharp drop into the river. Carefully Raph got as close as he could before turning the boat to drive parallel. Venus shuddered when the groans of the infected could be heard from up above in the streets. There were a lot more of them on this side of the river. It didn't deter Raph. He was looking for something. An entrance. When he finally spotted it, he spurred the engine onwards one last time. He reached out and Venus grabbed his hand. Together they leapt off the boat and into the water once more.

Another storm grate lay before them. With his free hand, Raph took out a sai and began to pick the lock. "Hurry Rapahel," Venus urged him. An infected jumped into the water behind them. Then there was another. Raphael growled. Lock-picking was a skill that required time and patience, none of which he had. Panicking, Raph stabbed his sai into the padlock. It split open from the force. Fumbling with his hand, Raph pulled the chain off and pulled on the rusty gate, the hinges screaming. He yanked Venus through and closed the metal lattice door behind him. It would slow the infected down.

Raphael ran, Venus in tow, down the sewer tunnel. He stopped at a T-intersection. "What's wrong?" Venus asked, catching her breath mid-inquiry.

"I don't know exactly where we are," Raph muttered. "I was never that familiar with this side of the sewers. You know, the bit that's close to Times Square."

He took a right. He doubted himself at first, but then his steps became more confident. The thundering sound of water loomed ahead. It was what they called the Junction. Even Venus knew this place. Like a major traffic intersection, this was where numerous sewer tunnels lead, along with a few storm drains. Raphael pointed towards one of the tunnels to their left. "That one leads to Times Square," he said with confidence. Letting go of each other so they could shimmy across the walls and not fall victim to the sudden drop into the whirlpool below, they reached the other side in just a minute. Even if the infected did make it through the water and past the gate, there was no way they could follow the turtles now. Venus sighed with relief though another worrisome thought crossed her mind. Raph grabbed her hand again and lead her down this new tunnel.

"Raph…"

"Hmm?" He didn't stop.

"The skull wasn't dropped at Times Square, remember? We ended up running a few blocks".

"I know. Just trust me," he allayed her fears. He lead her down a few more tunnels, both lefts and rights. Finally he stopped at one particular ladder. "This should be it. I think this is the closest one to where that robber dropped the skull."

Now it was time for Venus to take the lead. Heading up the sewer ladder first, Raphael close at her heels, she hesitated when she peered from underneath the manhole cover. "There's a LOT of infected people up here…" she panicked.

"Got no choice, Vee," Raph urged her onwards.

"Don't let go of me."

"I won't."

With that, Venus swiftly slid the manhole cover aside and scrambled onto the street. She quickly spun around and lent Raphael her hand, giving him a boost up the ladder. The infected were beside them in seconds. Only allowing himself to use one hand, Raphael swivelled the mop around in his grip, thrusting aside the crazies that were closest to them. "Where's the skull?" Raph yelled through gritted teeth, his eyes too focussed on clearing enemies to have a look around.

Venus kicked and elbowed a few infected aside, one even being an old lady. Finally she succeeded in knocking down the crazies long enough for her to get a decent view of the street. She saw it, still in the same spot where they saw last, on the sidewalk. "There!" Venus tugged Raphael along; she punched aside those in the front, while he covered their backs. She stopped suddenly when she got closer to the skull. Confused, Raph snuck a glance of the scene ahead.

It seemed the dragons had tried to reach the skull as well. Three of their soldiers lay dead in the street. One made it to the skull, but obviously was killed right beside it. Their bodies were mangled; broken bones poking through the skin, blood splattered on the road, shoulders dislocated, ribcages crunched while one had a snapped neck with part of their spine ripped out. If the turtles didn't know any better then they would've thought the dragons had been fighting a gorilla, not just ordinary citizens of New York. Yet they weren't normal people – they were feral creatures, attacking with no sense or reason, without hesitation, hitting, tearing and biting until their victim was either infected or killed. The dragons no doubt died at the hands of an entire mob of crazies. Like Venus had figured, the dragons were naturally immune to the infectious chi imbalance, due to being magical creatures. However that obviously didn't mean that they wouldn't be slaughtered by the affected thousands.

For once Raphael was thankful that they took so long to attempt this mission. The infected were the weakest he'd ever seen them. Another day and even the dragons may have stood a chance even with their subpar fighting talents. "You grab the skull, I'll keep fending them off!" Raph ordered, spinning the mop in his hand and smacking another person across the head whilst he spoke.

His words spurned Venus on, and she overcame the shock of the bloody sight before her. A few more steps and she was there. With her free hand she swiftly picked up the troublesome dragon skull. It was heavier than she thought, needing to rely on her reptilian strength.

A darkly dressed figure caught Raphael's eye. On the rooftop of the building across the street. A dragon. Raph quickly slid to one side, Venus along with him. An arrow landed at their feet, a note wrapped around the shaft. Raphael was about to pick it up when he suddenly noticed another figure, green, but this time in the street. Leonardo.

Their presence had attracted all the crazies that were located within the surrounding city blocks. Like ants, they steadily swarmed towards the two turtles. It was easy to get overwhelmed. A teenage girl wearing a kinky top and a mini skirt managed to sink her teeth into Raphael's bicep as he was punching away one of her friends from the party. He snarled and kneed her in the stomach, dropping her to the floor. In a circular motion he swung the mop and whacked all of the crazies in his peripheral. He gave one of them a concussion. The turtles were clear of enemies for a moment.

Raph spotted Leo again. The infected turtle looked stronger than the surrounding humans. Leo ran whilst the others stumbled. The expression Leo held was unrecognisable – twisted into something completely feral, as though there was no intelligence to his being. By now Venus had spotted him too. "Leo!" Raphael mournfully cried out. Absentmindedly Raphael went towards his brother, leaving Venus' side.

He only let go of her for a second…

Raph found himself yanked backwards. A hand was on his shoulder. It was Venus'. "Don't forget the mission, Raphael!" Terrified, she ended up screaming her words. Raphael was in shock. He couldn't believe how stupid he'd just been. Venus slid her hand down Raph's arm and clasped his palm tightly with her fingers once again. Snapped back to his senses, Raphael snatched the dragon's arrow off the ground and shoved it into his belt. Leonardo closed in.

Raph ran, towing Venus this time. She resisted slightly, almost losing her grip on the skull due to their rush. Venus almost dropped it when a strong hand clutched her trailing wrist. She was tugged back roughly, then pulled forward by Raph, as though she was the rope in a game of tug of war. Leonardo was the opponent.

The infected turtle jerked her backwards again, this time she felt a nerve pinch. Raphael finally looked back when she yelped in pain. This wasn't good. Raphael spun around and charged Leonardo with the handle of his mop. It snapped. Raphael suddenly felt foolish. He knew from sparring with Donatello that, while they still felt the vibration, their shells nullified most of the blows from a bo staff. Raphael snarled. Still clutching Venus' other hand, Raph gave Leo two strong kicks in the chest. "Back. Off!" he spat as his foot landed each one. It was forceful enough for Leo to lose his grip on Venus.

Once again the Raph and Venus headed back to the manhole cover. Raph went down first, leaving Venus to cover their trail. While sliding the lid across, Leonardo reappeared, grabbing the rim of the sheet of metal. Unlike the other crazies they faced, Leo was strong enough to deal with manhole covers. Venus thought fast and grabbed and twisted Leo's wrist, turning it at such an angle that he could no longer grip the lid. Leonardo staggered to one side, growling, mouth agape, allowing his saliva to dribble to the ground. Frightened, Venus snapped the manhole cover shut. She paused, shuddering in her position at the top of the ladder for a moment. Then she relaxed. Thankfully when it came to the crazies, out of sight was out of mind.

Venus and Raphael caught their breath at the base of the ladder. Raph tossed what was left of his mop to one side. It was useless to him now. Leonardo… He couldn't process what had just happened. He had a feeling that he didn't want to accept it. To dwell on it would only cause pain.

"At least we know he's alive…" Trust Venus to think on the bright side. Raphael smiled at the thought. Their hope had returned.

"You're bleeding!" Venus gasped when she noticed the bite in Raphael's bicep.

"I ain't got time to bleed," Raph coolly muttered. He frowned at her confusion, realising that she didn't get the movie reference. Raph sighed. He remembered the arrow. Curious he removed the note from the shaft and read it out loud. "Meet us at the car impound lot on 23rd. Bring the skull."

"Do you know where that is?"

"Yeah," Raph muttered. He scrunched up the note and tossed it aside, though he kept the arrow just in case he needed it. "Don goes there all the time to fetch car parts. There's a manhole cover in the middle of the place. And the impound lot is surrounded by a fence. No zombies should be in there."

"Dragon Lord will be," Venus warned.

Raphael whipped out both of his sai and gave them a twirl. "Why didn't you say so earlier?" He grinned, eager to fight. Venus was pleased to see him in such good spirits. "C'mon, we've got a bit of a walk ahead of us."

Venus followed as Raphael took charge once more. A good half hour later Raphael's pace slowed, becoming cautious of his surroundings. A cold draft drifted through the tunnel, the smell of burning flesh carried along with it. It was the scent of dragons. The turtles slowed right down, using their ninja training to stealthily edge forward. It wasn't long till they could see them. It must've been the entire clan. They looked weak and exhausted; their bodies slumped against the walls of the tunnel. Raph and Venus were surprised – they always assumed that the dragons would've holed themselves up in the condemned building that they normally occupied. But Raphael quickly guessed what happened. The sewer tunnels didn't always connect. Sometimes to get to a new area they'd have no choice but to go topside. Since the dragons' usual lair wasn't connected to this particular network of sewer tunnels, they ended up getting stranded. On top of that, it seemed that the turtles had managed to beat the messenger back to this point. The Rank obviously hadn't been informed of their immediate arrival.

A dragon tiredly turned his head in the direction of the turtles. He squinted at first, then jumped to his feet and formed a fighting stance. The rest of the Rank were quick to follow. They shuffled nervously as they stared at the two turtles, not knowing what to expect, except for possibly a beating. "They've got the skull!" One of them exclaimed.

Raphael and Venus readied themselves for battle. This was where their plan became sketchy. The dragons needed the skull and the turtles had it, however the dragons didn't necessarily need the turtles. They were expendable couriers.

Raphael let go of Venus and pulled out both sai – since the dragons were immune, there was no longer any risk of infection. Venus tightly held onto the skull with both hands, guarding it from anyone who attempted to snatch it away. Raphael watched as the dragons timidly shuffled closer. Raph smirked. "Express delivery for Dragon Lord," he announced. The first dragon leapt forward, claws raking the air. Raph easily kicked him aside with a roundhouse. "Here. Sign for it," he joked. It felt good to bust a few dragon heads; it just returned a sense of normalcy to Raphael's day.

Two more from the group charged forward. One suffered a front kick to the face, while another was winded when the handle of Raph's sai connected with his ribs. "Bob, never attack from the front. Bill, too slow," the turtle lectured, incredibly amused with how weak his opponents were. His antics infuriated the dragons. Raphael bopped another one on the head. "And who are you? I'll call you Frank." The dragons growled and started to charge as a single unit. Raphael didn't have the time to taunt any more as he was trying too hard not to get swamped. A couple managed to sneak past him but Venus quickly dealt with them. At one stage she even swung the dragon skull around like a giant club.

A loud, commanding voice called out over the din of the fight. "Enough!" The dragons stopped their advances, though the ones who were already down continued to groan out of pain. Through the masses the turtles could see the Lieutenant. He was different to the rest; better at fighting, he was the leader of the Rank. Royal hints of purple throughout his black garb reflected his higher status. The turtles didn't know his name, only that he was an important figure in the dragon's pack structure. Michelangelo called him Raoul. No reason. Just Mikey thought Raoul was a cool name and he'd never met a Raoul before.

"It seems that you have something that we want," Raoul commented. "Dragon Lord requests to see you".

"I feel so honoured," Raph goaded. Venus nudged him, hoping Raphael would mind his manners. Rudeness had no place in negotiations.

Seeing both his soldiers and the turtles relax their fighting posture, Raoul gestured towards the nearest sewer ladder before heading there himself. Raphael and Venus followed, wading through many angry yet defeated Rank members along the way.

Climbing the ladder, they emerged in the middle of the car impound lot. They immediately noticed the incredible number of infected people, clutching the chain-link fence and shaking the wire till it rattled in protest. There could easily have been a thousand zombies trying to get into the secure space, each one obsessed with ripping apart the occupants in the centre. Dragon Lord, standing in the middle and on top of a car's hood, didn't seem perturbed one bit. Though Raphael was sure the dragon's expression would change should the fence unravel.

Dragon Lord flashed the two turtles a toothy grin. "I see you found my ancestor's skull," he began. "I'm sure even a novice Shaman like yourself knows the importance of it."

"I want you to release the yang!" Venus demanded.

"But of course," Dragon Lord complied. "Just like you, I don't like seeing this city this way." Venus stepped forward, skull in her hands and ready to make the trade, but Raph stopped her. "Is there a catch?" Dragon Lord wondered.

"We keep the skull," Raphael growled.

"Now now. That hardly seems fair. I turn the city back to its original state and get nothing in return," Dragon Lord reasoned with a patronising tone.

"You just said that you wanted the city back to normal," Raph argued.

"True. But I could also wait a few days for everyone to die. Then I can take command of it again."

At first Raphael thought it was a bluff. Dragon Lord would also lose many soldiers to starvation and mauling over the next few days. They hadn't seemed to have found food, unlike the turtles. Then the more he thought about it, Raphael figured that doing nothing was more in Dragon Lord's favour. He'd lose half his men, but three of the turtles would perish as well, and no doubt Raph and Venus would only get weaker. Dragon Lord needed the skull to replenish his dwindling energy, but he could easily hunt them down for it at a later date. Of course, Dragon Lord, an ancient being, was not aware of the technological advances of this century, and probably hadn't thought of the possibility of the military purging the infection before then. Either way, Raphael couldn't bank on the Dragon Lord's last threat as being a total bluff.

"Of course, that needn't happen," Dragon Lord continued, intently studying the facial expressions of his enemies while he spoke. "You're not leaving here with the skull."

The turtles spun around to see all of the dragons, more than they'd fought earlier, filing out of the sewers and enclosing them. They were completely surrounded. A cackle could be heard. There was no mistaking it – the laughter belonged to Wick, Dragon Lord's scrawny yet talented alchemist. "Destroy the turtles!" he yelped excitedly. "Kill the Shinobi! Push them to the edge and let the infected deal with them!"

Feeling cornered, Raphael gripped his sai tighter. He assessed his chances of survival. The Rank didn't bother him, though they were rather outmatched for numbers. Even though the dragons were weak, the turtles weren't that much better off for energy themselves. Higher up in the hierarchy, Raoul and Dragon Lord were still strong, no doubt hogging most of the clan's resources over the past few days for themselves. Both of which weren't to be taken lightly. Raphael remembered a time when Dragon Lord managed to knock aside all of his brothers. Then there was Wick. Although he had no talent whatsoever in physical combat, he was notorious for pulling out surprises and random spells. But it was Wick's last few words that terrified Raph the most. Even if Raphael and Venus were the best fighters in the room, they had to take into account their surroundings. If they dropped their guard, allowing Dragon Lord the chance to fling them across to the fence, while Venus might be immune, Raphael would surely be infected by the onlooking ravenous hoards.

"We will give you the skull," Venus spoke up. She felt the need to fix the mess Raphael had created. As much as she cared for him, there was a reason why Leonardo was chosen to be leader. Leo understood the necessity of retreating and that sometimes it was better to fight another day. This crossed over into the art of negotiations – sensing when and how to compromise. Raphael didn't comprehend mutual agreements like everybody else. He saw things as black and white – winning or losing. Naturally he always wanted to win. It was for this reason why he was a poor choice for a leader as his pride often got in the way and he took everything too personally.

Dragon Lord grinned again, amusedly tapping his armour with one of his nails. He signalled his soldiers to back off and then waited for Venus to make her approach. As she stepped forwards, a wicked smirk appeared on the dragon's face as he eyed her grip on the skull. "It's quite interesting to see that you mastered that technique." It was the way he said it. There was a slyness to it, as though he hinted to knowing something that they didn't. His gaze was domineering, enjoying the power he had over her. It gave Venus the creeps.

Angered by his mind games, Venus stopped her walk and instead flung the skull across, allowing it to bounce and scrape against the ground as it fell. Like a flag touching the floor, the action was an insult. Dragon Lord snarled, but then again he didn't expect the turtle to hand it to him gently either. He angrily snatched it off the ground and studied the skull's form. After a moment he closed his eyes and focussed. The air around his claws glowed first, then the skull itself. The white light started to travel outwards. Staring at it, Venus swore she saw a little white Chinese dragon pounce out, quick as lightning. It circled swiftly then leapt over to the nearest person out of the mass of zombies. Venus saw their eyes come back into focus, regaining control of their conscious movements. Then they were touched. Another was healed. Then another and another, the little white dragon leaping forth and multiplying with ferocity. The infected instinctually tried to attack those who were now normal, only for them to be cured in the process. It was a reverse infection. No doubt it would spread with the same speed as the original spiritual disease.

Raphael readied his sai once more. Losing their collateral, things had turned risky for them. The dragons snarled and edged closer, tightening the circle. Venus pulled out her kai mi balls, daring to battle with her chi energy, making her hits stronger. The dragons hesitated slightly, unsure if they were just going to get beaten again in their weakened state despite having better numbers this time. Raph suddenly raised a sai above his head. "Come any closer and I'll fling this right into your lord's head." The dragons eyed each other, wondering what they should do. One obviously decided that it was a bluff and charged forward. Like he said, Raphael threw his sai.

It sailed through the air, heading straight to Dragon Lord's face. Yet the dragon was too quick. With a subtle shift, Dragon Lord's moved to one side. The throw seemed to be slightly off-centre, making it even easier to dodge. "You missed," Dragon Lord said with amusement. Raphael growled, frustrated that he hadn't mastered the move yet even though he'd been practising it for the last three years. The Rank carried out their attack. Raphael kicked and punched, unleashing whatever energy he still had stored. Venus didn't hold back either, grabbing onto the dragon's hoods with her hands and slamming her knee into their faces. Ten of them were out of the battle within the first minute; knocked unconscious, bruised, and one coughing up the blood that was pouring down the back of his nasal passage.

Dragon Lord observed that the turtles weren't tiring as easily as his soldiers. He raised his hand. The Rank backed away. "Let the love birds go," Dragon Lord commanded. A few soldiers shuffled away from the manhole cover as Raphael and Venus cautiously backed towards it. "Forgetting something?" Dragon Lord taunted. Raph looked as Dragon Lord threw his sai. It would've hit him had he not jumped back a few steps. "If you intend to kill me with that again next time, you'll need better aim," Dragon Lord snarled. Raph huffed. Venus grabbed his arm and dragged him back down into the sewers before he started the fight all over again.

"He's got the bloody skull, Venus!" Raphael wasn't pleased at their loss and announced it as soon as they were back underground.

"Our goal was to cure people. We can deal with Dragon Lord another time," Venus insisted.

"We can take them on!"

"Don't joke yourself, Raphael," Venus exclaimed. He knew what she meant, though Raphael thought wisely against correcting her English at this particular moment.

"Let's just go," he muttered. They broke into a run, wanting to get some distance between them and the league of dragons. When they passed underneath a few city blocks Raphael suddenly increased his speed.

"Wait, Raphael!"

"Hurry up! We've got to go back to where we saw Leo last!"

"I thought we were going back to the lair!"

Raphael slowed. "What? Why?"

Venus panted. "Raphael," she started. "We can't find Leo now. We'll be spotted!"

Raphael bristled with frustration. "Screw being spotted! I don't care! I wanna save my brothers!"

"I understand that!" Venus pleaded.

"Then let's go!"

"No! I understand that you want to be there for them. But people are getting cured all over the city now. As soon as the others are healed, what do you think is the first thing they are going to do?"

Raphael didn't want to admit that she had a point. He also desperately wanted to see if Master Splinter was still okay. The turtles hadn't spoken to him since they called him on the first night of the infection. He could also use the phone at the lair to check up on April and Casey. "I'll walk you home." It was his way of admitting defeat.

"Master Splinter!" Raphael bellowed the moment he stepped foot into the lair. "Master Splinter!"

The rat's face poked out from behind one of the doors of the subway carriages. Delight at the sight of the two turtles glistened through his entire body. He approached them, arms open, and Raph scrambled to greet him with a hug. As Raph's fingers sifted gently through Splinter's agouti coat, he was reminded of when he was a little turtle. Splinter would go out for long hours in search of food, sometimes causing the turtles to wonder if he'd return. The rat always did and the welcoming party was always the same. The four boys would rush as a group and hug Splinter's legs. One time they even managed to tackle him to the ground like a bunch of footballers.

The softness and the smell of his fur still brought comfort to Raphael even after all these years. Of course, Raphael was gentler now that Splinter wasn't as agile compared to his younger years. With some arthritis in his joints, Splinter's back curved over, while his coat had lost its luscious sheen. Well into his elderly years, lately the turtles worried how much longer they'd have Splinter's guidance and company. With the way he looked, it was easy to forget Splinter's real age. The rat had always kept it a secret. The boys never found out the reason why. But once Splinter accidentally let it slip whilst giving Leonardo some one-on-one training. Leo, a teenager at the time, felt the gossip was too good not to share. Turns out that Splinter was only three years older than them. It was hard to accept, though Donatello was the first to come to terms with it, remarking that it made sense. Normally rats would only live for five years. Splinter was mutated at three. Obviously the mutagen greatly extended his lifetime, a fact that Raphael was grateful for. Still, the idea that Splinter was nearing the end of his life at the young age of twenty-three was a hard concept to bear.

Splinter extended his arm out, inviting Venus into the embrace as well. "My son. Daughter," he said with the warmth of a father.

"We did it, Master Splinter!" Raphael softly told him. A couple of tears rolled down his face. He didn't know why he was so emotional. It may have just been relief that their ordeal was finally coming to an end. "We found a cure." Splinter smiled at them, proud of his students.

"Were you safe the entire time, Master Splinter?" Venus asked.

"Yes. I observed what was happening on the surface from time to time. Seemed best to just stay here," Splinter said. "Unfortunately I can't offer you anything to eat. I ate most of what was in the refrigerator, including Michelanglo's experiments. That was… interesting," he phrased politely. Raphael chuckled with his sensei.

Venus filled Splinter in on their plan and how they executed it. While the rat agreed with Venus' decision to return to the lair, it was still hard to convince Raphael to stay where he was. He phoned Casey and April to take his mind off the welfare of his brothers. They reported that the cure was spreading; the people out in the street in their neighbourhood had all returned to normal, albeit a bit confused and exhibiting denial. Like Splinter, thankfully April and Casey remained safe in their apartment the entire time.

After an agonising hour, movement was heard above the ladder entrance to their lair. One by one the three remaining turtles climbed down – they must've found each other on the trip home. They looked a little worse for wear. Their muscles weren't as defined, their cheeks looked gaunt, while their feet contained blisters from all the walking they endured. Yet despite their bedraggled looks, no one could contain their excitement.

A massive family reunion, they all rushed together. Leo hugged Raph, then hugged Venus. Then Mike hugged Venus and gave Raph a welcoming punch in the arm. Donatello hugged Splinter first, before moving on to Raph and Venus. Then Leo hugged Splinter, Mike followed, then Splinter hugged all his sons. Carrying on the feverish excitement, Leo, Mike and Don greeted each other again, giving each other brotherly pats on the back. Completely swept up in the thrill of seeing everyone again, Venus then hugged Raph and kissed him…

Everyone stopped.

Raphael naturally pulled away. He was shocked by his actions. Less than a day ago he was completely at ease with Venus' company, but now he felt uncomfortable. He had never been a fan of public displays of affection. With everything that had been going on, he forgot to speak to Venus that maybe it might be best to withhold such acts in front of his brothers for the time being. Judging the look on his face, Venus quickly realised her mistake. She felt ashamed for an instant. A cloud of awkwardness suffocated the previously joyful moment in the lair. The other turtles were confused. They'd obviously missed something.

"Uh… So do I get a welcome back kiss?" Michelangelo tried to lighten the mood. Somehow he only made it even more awkward.


End file.
